.    Of    LAl^lr.    LUiilAril,    AA>O 


"  GRATITUDE,    MY  LORD,   TO   YOU,"   HE  REPLIED. 


The  Lady  of  Lynn 


By    SIR   WALTER    BESANT 

Author  of '•'•All  Sorts  and   Conditions 
of  Men,"   "The    Orange    Girl,"  Etc. 


WITH      ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  TORK    .      DODD,    MEAD 
AND    COMPANY  1901 


lilSiV.  Of   CALIF.  Lii>iiAiiV,  LOS 


CopyrigJit,  1900 
By  SIR  WALTER  BESANT 


THE  CAXTON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK. 


Contents 


CHAP. 

PROLOGUE 

I.  MY  LORD'S  LEVEE 

II.  THE  LADY  ANASTASIA 

III.  THE  "  SOCIETY "  OF  LYNN    - 

IV.  THE  GRAND  DISCOVERY    - 
V.  THE  PORT  OF  LYNN    - 

VI.  THE  MAID  OF  LYNN 

VII.  THE  POET 

VIII.  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA 
IX.  SENT  TO  THE  SPA 

X.  "OF  THE  NICEST  HONOUR" 

XI.  THE  HUMOURS  OF  THE  SPA 

xii.  THE  CAPTAIN'S  AMBITION 

xin.  MOLLY'S  FIRST  MINUET 

xiv.  MOLLY'S  COUNTRY  DANCE 

XV.  THE    CARD    ROOM 

xvi.  HIS  LORDSHIP'S  INTENTIONS 

XVII.  "  IN    THE    LISBON    TRADE  "      - 

XVIII.  THE    WITCH      - 

XIX.  A    TRUE    FRIEND 

xx.  FIVE  O'CLOCK  IN  THE  MORNING 

xxi.  MOLLY'S  SECOND  APPEARANCE 

XXII.  THE    ABDUCTION 

XXIII.  WHICH    WAY    TO    FOLLOW  ?     - 

XXIV.  THE    PUNISHMENT     - 
XXV.  A    GRATEFUL    MIND 

XXVI.  THE    LAST   STEP    BUT   ONE 

XXVII.  THE    EXPECTED    BLOW 

V 


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2125568 


VI 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

XXVIII.  WARNING         -  -       23! 

XXIX.  THE    ARDENT    LOVER  238 

XXX.  THE    SECRET  -       246 

xxxi.  THE  "SOCIETY"  AGAIN      -  254 

XXXII.  A    RESPITE       -  -       2&2 

XXXIII.  A    WEDDING          -  2JO 

XXXIV.  A    NEW    COMPACT    -  -       278 
XXXV.  WHAT    DOES    IT    MEAN  ?  287 

XXXVI.  THE    DAY    OF    FATE  -       293 

XXXVII.  THE    BUBBLE    AND    THE    SKY    ROCKET  -             306 

XXXVIII.  THE    OPINION   OF    COUNSEL          -  -       312 

XXXIX.  THE    FRUITS    OF    SUBMISSION  320 

XL.  ON    MY    RETURN      -  -      332 

XLI.  THE  FIRST  AND  THE  SECOND  CONFEDERATE        345 

XLH.  THE  THIRD  AND  THE  FOURTH  CONFEDERATE     355 

XLIII.  THE  FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE  -      361 


PROLOGUE 

PROMOTION    AND    A    BASTING 

THE  happiest  day  of  my  life,  up  to  that  time,  because  I 
should  be  the  basest  and  the  most  ungrateful  of  men  were 
I  not  to  confess  that  I  have  since  enjoyed  many  days  far 
excelling  in  happiness  that  day,  was  the  2Oth  day  of  June, 
in  the  year  of  grace,  seventeen  hundred  and  forty-seven. 

For  on  that  day,  being  my  nineteenth  birthday,  I  was 
promoted,  though  so  young,  to  be  mate,  or  chief  officer,  on 
board  my  ship,  The  Lady  of  Lynn^  Captain  Jaggard,  then 
engaged  in  the  Lisbon  trade. 

In  the  forenoon  of  that  day  I  was  on  board  and  on  duty. 
We  were  taking  in  our  cargo.  Barges  and  lighters  were  along- 
side and  all  the  crew  with  the  barges  were  hoisting  and 
heaving  and  lowering  and  stowing  with  a  grand  yohoing 
and  chanting,  such  as  is  common,  with  oaths  innumerable, 
in  the  lading  and  the  unlading  of  a  ship.  It  was  my  duty 
to  see  the  casks  and  crates  hoisted  aboard  and  lowered  into 
the  hold.  The  supercargo  and  the  clerk  from  the  counting- 
house  sat  at  a  table  on  deck  and  entered  in  their  books 
every  cask,  box,  chest,  or  bale.  We  took  aboard  and  car- 
ried away  for  the  use  of  the  Portugals  or  any  whom  it  might 
concern,  turpentine,  tar,  resin,  wool,  pig  iron  and  other 
commodities  brought  by  our  ships  from  the  Baltic  or  car- 
ried in  barges  down  the  river  to  the  port  of  Lynn.  These 
were  the  things  which  we  took  out — what  we  brought 
home  was  wine ;  nothing  but  wine ;  barrels,  tuns,  pipes, 
hogsheads,  casks  of  all  kinds,  containing  wine.  There 
would  be  in  our  hold  wine  of  Malmsey,  Madeira,  Teneriffe, 
Canary,  Alicante,  Xeres,  Oporto,  Bucellas  and  Lisbon ;  all 
the  wines  of  Spain  and  Portugal ;  the  sweet  strong  wines 
to  which  our  people  are  most  inclined,  especially  our  people 
of  Norfolk,  Marshland,  Fenland,  Lincoln  and  the  parts 
around.  Thanks  to  the  port  of  Lynn  and  to  the  ships  of 
Lynn  engaged  in  the  Lisbon  trade,  there  is  no  place  in 


2  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

England  where  this  sweet  strong  wine  can  be  procured  bet- 
ter or  at  a  more  reasonable  rate.  This  wine  is  truly  be- 
loved of  all  classes :  it  is  the  joy  of  the  foxhunter  after  the 
day's  run  :  of  the  justices  after  the  ordinary  on  market 
day  :  of  the  fellows  in  their  dull  old  colleges  at  Cambridge  : 
of  the  dean  and  chapter  in  the  sleepy  cathedral  close :  of 
the  country  clergy  and  the  country  gentry — yea,  and  of 
the  ladies  when  they  visit  each  other.  I  say  nothing  in 
dispraise  of  Rhenish  and  of  Bordeaux,  but  give  me  the  wine 
that  comes  home  in  the  bottoms  that  sail  to  and  from  Lis- 
bon. All  wine  is  good  but  that  is  best  which  warms  the 
heart  and  strengthens  the  body  and  renews  the  courage — 
the  wine  of  Spain  and  Portugal. 

The  Lady  of  Lynn  was  a  three-masted,  full  rigged  ship 
of  380  tons,  a  stout  and  strong  built  craft,  not  afraid  of 
the  bay  at  its  worst  and  wildest,  making  her  six  knots  an 
hour  with  a  favourable  breeze,  therefore  not  one  of  your 
broad  slow  Dutch  merchantmen  which  creep  slowly,  like 
Noah's  Ark,  over  the  face  of  the  waters.  Yet  she  was  full 
in  the  beam  and  capacious  in  the  hold  :  the  more  you  put 
into  her,  the  steadier  she  sat  and  the  steadier  she  sailed. 
Man  and  boy  I  sailed  in  The  Lady  of  Lynn  for  twenty-five 
years  and  I  ought  to  know.  We  made,  for  the  most  part, 
two,  but  sometimes  three  voyages  in  the  year,  unless  we 
experienced  bad  weather  and  had  to  go  into  dock.  Bad 
weather  there  is  in  plenty :  storms  and  chopping  winds  in 
the  bay  :  beating  up  the  channel  against  east  winds:  things 
are  always  uncertain  in  the  North  Sea ;  sometimes  the  ship 
will  be  tacking  day  after  day,  getting  a  knot  or  two  in  four 
and  twenty  hours :  and  sometimes  she  will  be  two  or  three 
weeks  crossing  the  Wash,  which,  as  everybody  knows,  is 
cumbered  with  shallows,  and  making  way  up  the  Ouse 
when  a  wind  from  the  south  or  southeast  will  keep  a  ship 
from  reaching  her  port  for  days  together.  To  be  sure,  a 
sailor  pays  very  little  heed  to  the  loss  of  a  few  days :  it 
matters  little  to  him  whether  he  is  working  on  board  or  in 
port :  he  is  a  patient  creature,  who  waits  all  his  life  upon  a 
favourable  breeze.  And  since  he  has  no  power  over  the 
wind  and  the  sea,  he  accepts  whatever  comes  without  mur- 
muring, and  makes  the  best  of  it.  Perhaps  the  wind  blows 
up  into  a  gale  and  the  gale  into  a  storm  :  perhaps  the  good 


PROLOGUE  3 

ship  founders  with  all  hands:  nobody  pities  the  sailor:  it 
is  all  in  the  day's  work  :  young  or  old  every  one  must  die  : 
the  wife  at  home  knows  that,  as  well  as  the  man  at  sea. 
She  knew  it  when  she  married  her  husband.  I  have  read 
of  Turks  and  pagan  Mohammedans  that  they  have  no  fear 
or  care  about  the  future,  believing  that  they  cannot  change 
what  is  predestined.  It  seems  to  me  a  foolish  doctrine, 
because  if  we  want  anything  we  must  work  for  it,  or  we 
shall  not  get  it,  fate  or  no  fate.  But  the  nearest  to  the  Turk 
in  this  respect  is  our  English  sailor,  who  will  work  his  hard- 
est in  the  worst  gale  that  ever  blew,  and  face  death  without 
a  pang,  or  a  prayer,  or  a  touch  of  fear,  because  he  trusted 
his  life  to  the  sea  and  the  wind,  and  he  has  no  power  to 
control  the  mounting  waves  or  the  roaring  tempest.  It  is 
as  if  one  should  say  "  I  make  a  bargain  with  the  ocean,  and 
with  all  seas  that  threaten  and  every  wind  that  blows."  I 
say  to  them,  "  Suffer  me  to  make  my  living  on  a  ship  that 
your  winds  blow  across  your  seas,  and  in  return  I  will  give 
you  myself  and  the  ship  and  the  cargo — all  your  own — to 
take,  if  you  please  and  whenever  you  please."  It  is  a  cov- 
enant between  them.  Sometimes  the  sailor  gets  the  best  of 
it  and  spends  his  old  age  on  dry  land,  safe  after  many  voy- 
ages :  sometimes  he  gets  the  worst  of  it,  and  is  taken,  ship 
and  all,  when  he  is  quite  young.  He  cannot  complain. 
He  has  made  the  bargain  and  must  hold  to  it.  But  if  one 
could  sweep  the  bed  of  the  ocean  and  recover  among  the 
tangled  seaweed  and  the  long  sea  serpents  and  monsters  the 
treasures  that  lie  scattered  about,  how  rich  the  world  would 
be  !  Perhaps  (but  this  is  idle  talk)  the  sea  might  some  day 
say,  "I  am  gorged  with  the  things  that  mankind  call  riches. 
My  floor  is  strewn  thick  with  ribs  of  ships  and  skeletons 
of  men ;  with  chests  of  treasure,  bales  and  casks  and  car- 
goes. I  have  enough.  Henceforth  there  shall  be  no  more 
storms  and  the  ships  shall  pass  to  and  fro  over  a  deep  of  un- 
troubled blue  with  a  surface  like  unto  a  polished  mirror !  " 
Idle  talk !  And  who  would  be  a  sailor  then  ?  We  should 
hand  the  ships  over  to  the  women  and  apprentice  our  girls 
to  the  trade  of  setting  sails  of  silk  with  ropes  of  ribbons. 
I  will  tell  you  presently  how  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  be 
apprenticed  to  so  fine  a  craft  as  The  Lady  of  Lynn.  Just 
now  it  is  enough  to  set  down  that  she  was  the  finest  vessel 


4  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

in  the  little  fleet  of  ships  belonging  to  my  young  mistress, 
Molly  Miller,  ward  of  Captain  Crowle.  There  were  eight 
ships,  all  her  own  :  The  Lady  of  Lynn,  the  ship  in  which  I 
served  my  apprenticeship;  the  Jolly  Miller,  named  after  her 
father;  the  Lovely  Molly,  after  herself;  the  Joseph  and  Jen- 
nifer, after  her  parents ;  the  Pride  of  Lynn,  the  Beauty  of 
Lynn,  the  Glory  of  Lynn,  and  the  Honour  of  Lynn,  all  of 
which  you  may  take,  if  you  like,  as  named  after  their 
owner.  Molly  owned  them  all. 

I  have  to  tell  you,  in  this  place,  why  one  day  in  especial 
must  ever  be  remembered  by  me  as  the  most  surprising  and 
the  happiest  that  I  had  ever  known. 

I  was,  therefore,  on  the  quarter-deck  on  duty  when  the 
boy  came  up  the  companion  saying  that  the  captain  wanted 
to  speak  to  me.  So  I  followed,  little  thinking  of  what 
they  had  to  say,  expecting  no  more  than  some  question 
about  log  or  cargo,  such  as  the  skipper  is  always  putting  to 
his  officers. 

In  the  captain's  cabin,  however,  I  found  sitting  at  the 
table  not  only  Captain  Jaggard  himself,  but  my  old  friend 
and  patron,  Captain  Crowle.  His  jolly  face  was  full  of 
satisfaction  and  good  humour,  so  that  it  gave  one  pleasure 
only  to  look  at  him.  But  he  sat  upright  and  assumed  the 
air  of  dignity  which  spoke  of  the  quarter-deck.  A  man 
who  has  walked  that  part  of  the  ship  in  command  doth 
never  lose  the  look  of  authority. 

"John  Pentecrosse,"  he  began,  "I  have  sent  for  you  in 
order  to  inform  you  that  on  the  recommendation  of  Captain 
Jaggard  here—  "  Captain  Jaggard  gravely  inclined  his  head 
in  acquiescence,  "and  with  the  consent  of  Miss  Molly 
Miller,  sole  proprietor  of  this  good  ship,  The  Lady  of  Lynn, 
I  have  promoted  you  to  the  rank  of  chief  officer." 

"Sir!"  I  cried,  overwhelmed,  for  indeed,  I  had  no  reason 
to  expect  this  promotion  for  another  two  or  three  years. 
"  What  can  I  say  ?  " 

"We  don't  want  you  to  say  anything,  Jack,  my  lad,"- 
the  captain  came  down  from  the  quarter-deck  and  became 
my    old    friend    again.      "  Give    me    your   hand.     You're 
young,  but  there's  never  a  better  sailor  afloat,  is  there,  Cap- 
tain Jaggard  ?  " 

"  None,  Captain  Crowle — none.     For  his  years." 


PROLOGUE  5 

"  For  his  years,  naturally.  He's  salt  through  and  through, 
isn't  he,  Captain  Jaggard  ?  " 

"And  through,  Captain  Crowle."  My  skipper  was  a 
man  of  grave  aspect  and  few  words. 

"Well,  then — let  us  drink  the  lad's  health."  And  upon 
that  the  cabin  boy,  who  needed  no  further  order,  dived  into 
the  locker,  produced  a  bottle,  opened  it  and  placed  three 
glasses. 

"  No  better  Lisbon,"  said  Captain  Jaggard,  pouring  it  out, 
"  goes  even  to  the  table  of  the  King — God  bless  him  !  " 

"  Now,  gentlemen,"  Captain  Crowle  pushed  a  glass  to 
me,  "  first,  a  glass  to  Miss  Molly — my  little  maid.  Jack, 
you've  been  her  playfellow  and  you're  now  her  servant." 

"  I  could  ask  nothing  better,  sir." 

"  I  know — a  good  and  zealous  servant.  Drink  it  off — a 
full  glass,  running  over,  to  Molly  Miller." 

We  obeyed,  nothing  loth. 

"  And  now,  Captain  Jaggard,  here's  the  health  of  your 
new  mate — long  to  serve  under  you — your  right  hand — 
your  eyes  open  when  you  are  off  the  deck — your  sailing 
master — the  keeper  of  your  log — Jack  Pentecrosse,  I  drink 
to  your  good  luck." 


That  was  the  event  which  made  this  day  the  happiest  in 
my  life.  Another  event,  of  which  I  thought  little  at  the 
time,  was  more  important  still  in  the  after  consequences. 
This  was  the  humiliation  of  Samuel  Semple. 

In  the  evening,  as  soon  as  I  could  get  ashore,  I  repaired, 
as  in  duty  bound,  to  pay  my  respects  to  my  young  mistress. 
She  lived,  being  Captain  Crowle's  ward,  in  his  house,  which 
was  the  old  house  with  a  tower  formerly  built  for  some  re- 
ligious purpose.  It  stands  retired  from  the  street,  with  a 
fair  garden  in  front,  a  garden  where  I  had  played  many 
hundreds  of  times  with  Molly  when  we  were  boy  and  girl 
together. 

This  evening  she  was  sitting  in  the  summerhouse  with 
some  needlework.  Beside  her  sat  her  good  old  black 
woman,  Nigra. 

"Jack!"     She   dropped   her  work   and   jumped    up  to 


6  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

meet  me.  "  I  thought  you  would  come  this  evening.  Oh  ! 
Are  you  pleased  ?  " 

"  You  knew  I  should  come,  Molly.  Why,  have  I  not 
to  thank  you  for  my  promotion  ?  " 

She  gave  me  her  hand  with  her  sweet  frankness  and  her 
smiling  face. 

"  I  would  make  you  Captain  Jack,  but  my  guardian  will 
not  hear  of  it.  All  in  good  time,  though.  I  am  only 
waiting.  I  am  proud  of  you,  Jack,  because  everybody 
speaks  so  well  of  you.  I  met  your  father  this  morning  and 
gave  him  the  good  news  to  rejoice  his  good  old  heart.  He 
was  too  proud  to  confess  his  joy.  But  we  know  him,  don't 
we,  Jack  ?  Well,  I  confess  that  I  shall  not  be  happy  till 
you  are  Captain  Pentecrosse,  with  a  share  in  every  cargo." 

"  Nay,  Molly,  the  ship  is  yours  and  I  am  but  your  serv- 
ant— though  a  proud  and  joyful  servant." 

She  shook  her  head.  "  All  you  brave  fellows,"  she  said, 
"  are  going  out  to  sea  in  storm  and  tempest  to  work  for  me. 
Why  should  all  these  ships  bring  riches  to  me  ?  I  have 
done  nothing.  They  ought  to  bring  riches  for  those  who 
work."  This  shows  her  tenderness  of  heart.  Never  have 
I  heard  of  any  other  woman  who  complained  that  her  serv- 
ants worked  to  make  her  rich  while  she  did  nothing.  Yet 
the  vicar  would  rebuke  her,  saying  that  riches  and  increase 
were  the  gifts  of  Providence,  and  that  she  must  accept  the 
things  plainly  intended  by  heaven.  And  Captain  Crowle 
spoke  to  the  same  effect  and  my  father,  the  schoolmaster, 
also  pointed  out  that  in  the  Divine  scheme  there  were  rich 
and  there  were  poor :  the  former  for  an  example  and  for  an 
encouragement  to  industry :  the  latter  for  the  virtues  of 
duty,  discipline  and  contentment — things  pleasing  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord.  But  still  she  returned  to  her  talk  about 
the  people  who  worked  for  her. 

And  then  we  sat  and  talked,  while  Nigra  went  on  with 
her  work,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  her  mistress,  whom  she 
watched  all  the  time  as  a  dog  keeps  one  eye  always  upon 
his  master. 

At  this  time,  my  mistress,  as  I  have  said,  was  already 
sixteen  years  of  age,  a  time  when  many  girls  are  already 
married.  But  she  was  still  a  child,  or  a  young  girl,  at  heart: 
being  one  of  those  who,  like  a  fine  Orleans  plum,  ripen 


PROLOGUE  7 

slowly  and  are  all  the  better  for  the  time  they  take.  In 
person,  if  I  may  speak  of  what  should  be  sacred,  she  was 
finely  made,  somewhat  taller  than  the  average,  her  hair  of 
that  fair  colour  which  is  the  chief  glory  of  the  English 
maiden.  Lord  !  If  a  Lisbon  girl  could  show  that  fair  hair, 
with  those  blue  eyes,  and  that  soft  cheek,  touched  with  the 
ruddy  hue  and  the  velvet  bloom  of  the  September  peach, 
she  would  draw  after  her  the  whole  town,  with  the  king 
and  his  court  and  even  the  grand  inquisitor  and  his  accursed 
crew  of  torturers.  I  know  not  how  she  was  dressed,  but  it 
was  in  simple  fashion.  Though  so  great  an  heiress  she 
went  to  church  no  more  finely  dressed  than  any  of  the  girls 
belonging  to  the  better  sort,  save  for  a  substantial  gold 
chain  which  had  been  her  father's.  And  this  she  always 
wore  about  her  neck. 

She  was  of  a  truly  affectionate  disposition — her  mind  be- 
ing as  lovely  as  her  face.  In  manners  she  was  easy  and 
compliant :  in  discourse  sometimes  grave  and  sometimes 
merry.  As  for  her  great  possessions,  she  was  so  simple  in 
her  tastes  and  habits,  being  in  all  respects  like  the  daughter 
of  a  plain  merchantman's  skipper,  that  she  understood  little 
or  nothing  of  what  these  possessions  meant  or  what  they 
might  bestow  upon  her.  She  was,  in  a  word,  a  plain  and 
unaffected  damsel  with  no  pretence  of  anything  superior  to 
those  around  her.  She  was  skilled  in  all  household  matters 
although  so  well  read :  she  could  brew  and  pickle  and  make 
perfumes  and  cordials  for  the  still  room  :  she  could  make 
cakes  and  puddings :  she  knew  how  to  carve  at  table :  she 
had  poultry,  her  ducks,  her  pigs  and  her  dairy,  in  the  fields 
within  the  walls  hard  by  the  Lady's  Mount.  She  was  al- 
ways busy  and  therefore  never  afflicted  with  the  vapours  or 
the  spleen  or  the  longing  for  one  knows  not  what  which 
afflict  the  empty  mind  of  the  idle  and  the  fashionable  dame. 
There  were  other  good  and  comely  girls  in  King's  Lynn. 
I  might  perhaps,— I  say  it  not  with  boastfulness — have  mar- 
ried Victory,  daughter  of  the  Reverend  Ellis  Hayes,  curate 
of  St.  Nicholas.  She  was  a  buxom  wench  enough  and  a 
notable  housewife.  Or  I  might  have  married  Amanda, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Worship,  our  physician — she  who  married 
Tom  Rising,  and  when  he  broke  his  neck  hunting  the  fox, 
afterwards  married  the  Vicar  of  Hunstanton.  She,  too,  was 


8  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

a  fine  woman,  though  something  hard  of  aspect.  But  there 
was  never,  for  me,  any  other  woman  in  the  world  than 
Molly,  my  mistress. 

No  one,  however,  must  believe  that  there  was  any 
thought  or  discourse,  concerning  love  between  us.  I  had 
been  her  companion  and  playfellow :  I  knew  her  very  mind, 
and  could  tell  at  any  time  of  what  she  was  thinking. 
Sometimes  her  thoughts  were  of  high  and  serious  things 
such  as  were  inspired  by  the  sermon ;  mostly  they  were  of 
things  simple,  such  as  the  prospects  of  the  last  brew,  or 
the  success  of  the  latest  cordial.  Of  suitors  she  had  none, 
although  she  was  now,  as  I  said,  sixteen  years  of  age. 
There  were  no  suitors.  I  very  well  know  why,  because, 
perhaps  for  friendly  reasons,  Captain  Crowle  had  told  me 
something  of  his  ambition  for  his  ward.  She  was  too 
rich  and  too  good  for  the  young  men  of  Lynn — what 
would  any  of  them  do  with  such  an  heiress  ?  She  was  too 
rich  and  too  good  even  for  the  gentlefolk  of  the  county,  a 
hearty,  rough,  good-natured  people  who  hunted  and  shot 
and  feasted  and  drank — what  would  they  do  with  an  heiress 
of  wealth  beyond  their  highest  hopes  —  had  they  any 
knowledge  of  her  wealth  ;  but  I  believe  that  they  had  none. 
No  one  knew  how  rich  she  was,  except  the  captain.  The 
girl  was  intended  by  her  guardian  for  some  great  man ; 
he  knew  not,  as  yet,  how  he  should  find  this  great  man  :  but 
he  knew  that  there  were  very  few,  even  of  the  noble  lords 
in  the  House  of  Peers,  whose  fortune  or  whose  income 
would  compare  with  that  of  his  ward — his  little  maid. 
And  I,  who  knew  this  ambition,  knew  also  that  I  was 
trusted  not  to  betray  confidence,  nor  to  disturb  the  girl's 
mind  by  any  talk  of  love.  Now  the  mind  of  a  young 
maid  piously  disposed  is  like  the  surface  of  a  calm  sea, 
which  looks  up  to  the  sky  and  reflects  the  blue  of  heaven, 
undisturbed :  till  Dan  Cupid  comes  along  and  agitates  the 
calm  with  the  reflection  of  some  shepherd  swain  and 
ripples  the  surface  with  new  thoughts  which  are  allowed 
by  heaven,  but  belong  not  to  any  of  its  many  mansions. 

Therefore  we  talked  of  everything  except  love :  of  the 
voyages  to  the  Portugals  and  their  horrid  Inquisition  :  of  the 
yarns  told  by  sailors  of  the  places  they  had  seen,  and  so 
forth.  There  was  no  talk  about  books  because  there  were 


PROLOGUE  9 

none.  A  Ready  Reckoner;  a  Manual  of  Navigation;  Mill's 
Geography  ;  a  Wages  Book ;  the  Bible  and  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  were  the  only  books  belonging  to  the  good 
old  captain.  Nor,  in  all  Lynn,  save  for  the  learned  shelves 
of  the  vicar  and  the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas  are  there  any 
books.  It  is  not  a  town  which  reads  or  asks  for,  books. 
Why,  even  on  market  days  you  will  not  see  any  stall  for 
the  sale  of  books  such  as  may  be  seen  every  week  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  at  Norwich,  and  even  at  Bury  St.  Edmund's. 
'Tis  perhaps  pity  that  so  many  gentlemen,  substantial 
merchants,  and  sea  captains  never  read  books.  For  their 
knowledge  of  the  outer  world,  and  the  nations,  they  trust 
to  the  sailors  who,  to  tell  the  truth,  know  as  much  as  any 
books  can  tell  them :  but  sailors  are  not  always  truthful. 
For  their  wisdom  and  their  conduct  of  life  and  manners 
these  honest  merchants  depend  upon  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testament :  or,  since  there  are  some  who  neglect  that 
Treasury  of  Divine  knowledge,  they  trust  to  mere  tradi- 
tion and  to  proverbs  ;  to  the  continuation  of  their  fore- 
fathers' habits,  and  to  the  memory  of  what  their  forefathers 
achieved. 

The  sun  went  down  as  we  sat  talking.  The  sun  went 
down  and  the  soft  twilight  of  June,  the  month  which  most 
I  love  because  there  is  no  darkness,  and  a  man  on  watch 
can  discern  ahead  breakers  and  ships  as  well  as  the  vast 
circle  of  the  rolling  sea.  And  then  Nigra  gathered  her 
work  together  and  arose. 

"  Come  to  supper,  honey,"  she  said.  "  Come,  Massa 
Jack,"  and  led  the  way. 

I  have  often,  since  I  learned  and  understood  things, 
wondered  at  the  simplicity  with  which  Molly's  guardian 
thought  it  proper  to  bring  up  this  young  heiress  whose  hand 
he  intended  for  some  great  personage,  as  yet  unknown. 
He  lived  for  choice  in  a  small  parlour  overlooking  his 
neighbour's  garden  :  it  was  nearly  as  narrow  as  the  cabin 
to  which  he  was  accustomed.  His  fare  was  that  which,  as 
a  sailor,  he  considered  luxurious.  The  staple,  so  to  speak, 
was  salt  beef  or  salt  pork,  but  not  quite  so  hard  as  that  of 
the  ship's  barrels.  This  evening,  for  instance,  we  sat  down 
to  a  supper  consisting  of  a  piece  of  cold  boiled  beef  some- 
what underdone ;  there  was  a  cold  chicken ;  a  sallet  of 


io  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

lettuce,  spring  onions  and  young  radishes ;  and  a  goose- 
berry pie  afterwards  with  plenty  of  strong  brown  sugar. 
With  these  dainties  was  served  a  jug  of  home-brewed — to 
my  mind  a  more  delicious  drink  than  any  of  the  wine 
brought  home  by  The  Lady  of  Lynn — I  remember  now  how 
it  stood  beside  the  captain  with  its  noble  head  of  froth, 
overtopping  the  Brown  George  in  which  it  was  drawn. 

It  had  been  a  joyful  day.  It  was  destined  to  conclude 
with  an  event  neither  joyful  nor  sorrowful — an  act  of 
justice.  For  my  own  part  I  could  have  sung  and  laughed 
all  through  the  supper:  the  m^.?  joyful,  because  Molly 
looked  happy  in  my  happiness.  But  there  was  something 
wrong.  When  we  talked  and  laughed,  the  captain  laughed 
with  us,  but  not  mirthfully.  His  face  indicated  a  change 
of  weather,  just  as  in  the  bay  before  a  storm  the  waters 
grow  turbid :  and  I  observed  also,  that  Molly's  mother, 
though  she  laughed  with  Molly  and  applauded  our  sallies, 
glanced  anxiously  from  time  to  time  at  the  captain,  who 
was  her  cousin  as  well  as  her  husband's  executor  and  her 
daughter's  guardian.  And  I  knew  not  what  to  make  of  these 
symptoms,  because  in  the  midst  of  fine  weather,  with  an  open 
sea,  a  fine  sky,  and  a  favouring  breeze,  one  does  not  expect 
the  signs  of  head  winds  and  driving  sleet.  What  it  meant 
you  shall  learn,  and  why  I  have  said  that  the  day  was 
memorable  for  two  reasons. 

Supper  over,  the  captain,  instead  of  turning  round  his 
chair  to  the  fireplace,  filling  his  pipe,  and  calling  for  an- 
other glass  of  October,  as  we  expected,  pushed  back  his 
chair,  and  rose  with  dignity. 

"Jennifer,"  he  addressed  Molly's  mother,  "the  per- 
suader." 

Jennifer  was  her  Christian  name.  She  got  up  and  drew 
from  the  corner  by  the  cupboard  a  stout  crab  tree  cudgel, 
twisted  and  gnarled  like  the  old  tree  from  which  it  came. 
"  Be  not  revengeful,  John,"  she  said. 

"  No,  no.  I  am  a  justice  of  the  peace.  I  am  captain 
on  my  own  quarter-deck.  Punishment  I  shall  bestow — not 
revenge." 

"  Well,  John.     But  he  is  young  and  you  are  old." 

Captain  Crowle  laughed.  "  Young,  is  he  I  And  I  am 
old,  am  I  ?  We  shall  see." 


PROLOGUE  ii 

Some  one  was  going  to  be  tried,  judged,  found  guilty,  sen- 
tenced and  to  receive  his  sentence  at  once.  The  thing 
was  not  unusual  in  the  house  of  a  justice  of  the  peace. 

"  Come  with  me,  Jack.  It  shall  not  be  said  that  I  in- 
flicted this  punishment  without  a  witness.  All  the  world 
shall  know  about  it,  if  so  be  the  culprit  desires.  Come 
with  me.  Jennifer,  keep  within,  and  if  you  hear  groans, 
praise  the  Lord  for  the  correction  of  a  sinner." 

Greatly  marvelling  I  followed  the  captain  as  he  marched 
out  of  the  parlour.  Arrived  at  the  garden  he  looked 
around.  "  So  !  "  he  said,  "  he  has  not  yet  come.  Perhaps 
it  is  light  enough  for  you  to  read  some  of  his  pernicious 
stuff."  With  that  he  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket  and  drew 
forth  a  paper.  "  Read  that,  Jack,  I  say,  read  it." 

I  obeyed :  the  twilight  gave  sufficient  light  for  reading 
the  manuscript.  Besides,  the  writing  was  large  and  in  bold 
characters.  "  Why,"  I  said,  "  I  know  this  writing.  It 
is  Sam  Semple's." 

"  Very  good.     Go  on,  therefore " 

At  the  very  first  words  I  understood  what  had  already 
happened  and  guessed,  pretty  well,  what  was  going  to  hap- 
pen— 

"  Molly  divine  !     Thy  heavenly  charms  prevail ; 
As  when  the  sun  doth  rise  stars  fade  and  pale." 

"  No  need  for  much  more  of  the  rubbish,  Jack.  Read 
the  last  of  it.  I  read  it  all  and  it  made  me  sick." 

"  So,  matchless  maid,  thy  silence  grants  consent. 
See,  at  thy  feet,  the  poet's  knee  is  bent — 
When  evening  roses  scatter  fragrance  faint 
And  the  sad  Philomel  renews  his  plaint." 

"  Did  ever  man  hear  such  stuff",  Jack  ?     Go  on." 

"  Within  this  bow'r  afar  from  sight  of  men  ; 
To-morrow,  Wednesday,  at  the  hour  of  ten, 
That  bow'r  a  shrine  of  Love  and  Temple  fair, 
I  will  await  thee — Samuel  Semple — there." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  that,  Jack  ?  Samuel  Semple  ! 
the  ragged,  skulking,  snivelling,  impudent  son  of  a  thiev- 
ing exciseman !  A  very  fine  lover  for  my  little  maid ! 


12  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Ha  !  Will  he  ?  Will  he  ?  "  The  captain  grasped  his 
cudgel,  with  resolution. 

"  Sir,"  I  said,  with  submission.  "  What  did  Molly  say 
to  this  precious  epistle  ?  " 

"  Molly  ?  Dost  think  that  I  would  let  the  little  maid 
see  such  ranting  stuff?  Not  so.  The  black  woman 
brought  the  precious  letters  to  me.  There  are  three  of 
them.  Wait,  Jack.  Thou  shalt  see.  Hush  !  I  hear  his 
step.  Let  us  get  into  the  summerhouse,  and  lie  snug  to 
see  what  happens." 

We  stepped  into  the  summerhouse,  now  pretty  dark, 
and  waited  expectant. 

Like  the  captain,  I  was  filled  with  amazement  that 
Samuel,  whom  I  knew  well,  who  was  my  schoolfellow, 
should  presume  to  lift  his  eyes  so  high.  Alas !  There  is 
no  bound,  or  limit,  I  am  assured,  to  the  presumption  of 
such  as  this  stringer  of  foolish  rhymes.  Yet  I  felt  some 
compunction  for  him,  because  he  would  most  assuredly  re- 
ceive a  basting  such  as  would  cure  him  effectually  of  the 
passion  called  Love,  so  far  as  this  object  was  concerned. 

Presently,  we  heard  footsteps  crunching  the  gravel. 
"  Snug,  my  lad  !  Lie  snug,"  whispered  the  captain.  We 
heard  the  steps  making  their  way  along  the  path  between 
the  gooseberry  and  current  bushes.  Then  they  came  out 
upon  the  grass  lawn  before  the  summerhouse.  "  The 
grass  is  as  big  as  a  quarter-deck,  Jack,"  said  the  captain. 
"  It  will  serve  for  the  basting  of  a  measley  clerk.  I've 
knocked  down  many  a  mutinous  dog  on  the  quarter-deck." 

The  poet  came  to  the  summerhouse  and  stood  outside, 
irresolute.  He  could  not  see  the  two  occupants.  He 
hemmed  twice,  aloud.  There  was  no  reply.  "  Matchless 
Molly  !  "  he  whispered.  "  Divine  Maid  !  I  am  here,  at 
thy  feet.  Nymph  of  the  azure  sea,  I  am  here." 

"  The  devil  you  are  !  "  cried  the  captain,  stepping  out. 
"  Why,  here  is  a  precious  villain  for  you  !  Jack,  cut  him 
off  in  the  rear  if  he  tries  to  get  away.  So — so,  my  young 
quill  driver.  You  would  poach  on  the  preserves  of  your 
betters,  would  you  ?  Would  you  ?  Would  you  ?  "  At 
each  repetition  he  banged  the  wooden  post  of  the  summer- 
house  with  his  cudgel. 

The  poet  made  no  reply,  but  he  looked  to  right  and  to 


PROLOGUE  13 

left  and  behind  him,  for  a  way  of  escape,  but  found  none, 
for  I  was  ready  to  bar  his  flight.  Wherefore,  his  shoul- 
ders became  rounded,  and  his  head  hung  down,  and  his 
knees  trembled.  Samuel  Semple  was  caught  in  a  trap. 
Some  young  fellows  would  have  made  a  fight  of  it.  But 
not  Samuel :  all  he  thought  about  was  submission  and  non- 
resistance,  which  might  provoke  pity. 

"Three  times,  jackanapes,  hast  thou  presumed  to  send 
stuff  to  my  ward.  Here  they  are,"  he  took  from  me  the 
last  sheet  of  doggerel  verse  and  drew  from  his  pocket  two 
more.  "  Here  they  are — one — two — three — all  addressed 
to  the  Matchless  Molly.  Why,  thou  impudent  villain — 
what  devil  prompted  thee  to  call  her  Matchless  Molly — 
matchless — to  such  as  you !  Take  that,  sirrah,  and 

that "  They  were  laid  on  with  a  will.  The  poet 

groaned  but  made  no  reply — again  looking  vainly  to  right 
and  left  for  some  way  of  escape. 

"  Now,  sir,"  said  the  captain,  "  before  we  go  on  to  the 
serious  business,  thou  wilt  eat  this  precious  stuff — eat  it — 
eat  it — swallow  it  all — or  by  the  Lord  !  "  Again  he  raised 
the  cudgel,  "  I  will  stuff  it  down  thy  throat." 

"  Oh !  Captain  Crowle,"  he  murmured,  "  I  will  eat 
them — I  will  &at  them." 

The  poet  took  the  papers.  They  were  dry  eating  and  I 
fear  tasteless,  but  in  a  few  minutes  he  had  swallowed  them  all. 

"  They  are  down,"  said  the  captain.  "  Now  comes  the 
basting.  And  I  would  have  you  to  understand,  lump  of 
impudence,  that  it  is  my  mercy  only — my  foolish  mercy, 
perhaps,  that  keeps  me  from  sending  you  through  the  town 
at  the  tail  of  a  cart.  Kneel  down,  sir,  in  token  of  repent- 
ance. What  ?  I  say — kneel  down." 

The  basting  which  followed  was  really  worthy  of  the 
days  when  Captain  Crowle,  with  his  own  hand,  quelled  a 
mutiny  and  drove  the  whole  crew  under  hatches.  The  right 
hand  at  seventy  was  as  vigorous  as  at  forty.  For  my  own 
part,  I  attempted  no  interference.  The  captain  was  wrath- 
ful but  he  had  command  of  himself.  If  he  added  to  the 
basting  a  running  commentary  of  sea-going  terms,  signify- 
ing scorn  and  contempt,  with  the  astonishment  with  which 
a  sailor  always  regards  presumption,  it  was  only  to  increase 
the  terror  and  the  effect  of  the  cudgelling.  I  am  quite 


i4  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

certain  that  he  was  resolved  in  his  own  mind  when  he 
should  stop;  that  is  to  say,  when  the  justice  of  the  case 
would  have  been  met  and  revenge  would  begin.  And  I 
hold  myself  excused  for  not  preventing  any  portion  of  this 
commentary. 

It  was  a  poor,  shrinking,  trembling  figure  full  of  bruises 
and  aches  and  pains  that  presently  arose  and  slunk  away. 
I  should  have  felt  sorry  for  him  had  he  taken  punishment 
like  a  man.  Why,  I  would  maroon  any  of  my  crew  who 
would  cry  and  grovel  and  snivel  when  tied  up  for  his  three 
dozen.  It  made  one  sick  and  ashamed  to  see  him  and  to 
hear  him,  with  his  — 

"  Mercy,  captain  !  Oh  !  Enough,  good  captain  !  Oh  ! 
captain,  I  confess.  I  deserve  it  all.  Never  again,  captain. 
Oh  !  Forgiveness — forgiveness  !  "  And  so  on.  I  say  it 
made  me  sick  and  ashamed.  When  all  was  over  I  followed 
him  to  the  garden  gate.  "  Oh  !  Jack,"  he  groaned.  "  You 
stood  by  and  saw  it  all.  I  am  a  dead  man.  He  shall  be 
hanged  for  it.  You  are  the  witness.  I  am  nothing  but  a 
bag  of  broken  bones.  Ribs  and  collar  bones  and  skull.  I 
am  a  poor,  unfortunate,  murdered  man.  I  am  done  to  death 
with  a  cudgel." 

"  Go  home,"  I  said.  "  You  a  man  ?  You  cry  like  a 
whipped  cur.  Murdered  ?  Not  you.  Cudgelled  you  are, 
and  well  you  deserved  it.  Go  home  and  get  brown  paper 
and  vinegar  and  tell  all  the  town  how  you  have  been 
cudgelled  for  writing  verses  to  a  matchless  maid.  They 
will  laugh,  Sam  Semple.  They  will  laugh." 

The  captain  went  back  to  the  parlour,  somewhat  flushed 
with  the  exercise. 

"  Justice,"  he  said,  "  has  been  done,  without  the  cart  and 
the  cat.  My  pipe,  Jennifer,  and  the  home-brewed.  Molly, 
my  dear,  your  very  good  health." 

A  day  or  two  afterwards,  we  heard  that  Sam  Semple  had 
gone  to  London  to  make  his  fortune.  He  was  carried 
thither  by  the  waggon  that  once  a  week  makes  the  journey 
to  London,  returning  the  following  week.  But  when  Sam 
Semple  came  back  it  was  in  a  chaise,  with  much  splendour, 
as  in  due  course  you  shall  hear.  You  shall  also  hear  of  the 
singular  gratitude  with  which  he  repaid  the  captain  for  that 
wholesome  correction. 


The  Lady  of  Lynn 


CHAPTER  I 

MY  LORD'S  LEVEE 

IT  is  three  years  later.     We  are  now  in  the  year  1750. 

At  twelve  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  anteroom  of  the 
town  house  of  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Fyling- 
dale  was  tolerably  filled  with  a  mixed  company  attending 
his  levee.  Some  were  standing  at  the  windows ;  some  were 
sitting :  a  few  were  talking :  most,  however,  were  unknown 
to  each  other,  and  if  they  spoke  at  all,  it  was  only  to  ask 
each  other  when  his  lordship  might  be  expected  to  appear. 

As  is  customary  at  a  great  lord's  levee  there  were  pres- 
ent men  of  all  conditions ;  they  agreed,  however,  in  one 
point,  that  they  were  all  beggars.  It  is  the  lot  of  the 
nobleman  that  he  is  chiefly  courted  for  the  things  that  he 
can  give  away,  and  that  the  number  of  his  friends  and  the 
warmth  of  their  friendship  depend  upon  the  influence  he  is 
supposed  to  possess  in  the  bestowal  of  places  and  appoint- 
ments. 

Among  the  suitors  this  morning,  for  instance,  was  a  half- 
pay  captain  who  sought  for  a  company  in  a  newly  raised 
regiment :  he  bore  himself  bravely,  but  his  face  betrayed 
his  anxiety  and  his  necessities.  The  poor  man  would 
solicit  his  lordship  in  vain,  but  this  he  did  not  know,  and 
so  he  would  be  buoyed  up  for  a  time  with  new  hopes. 
Beside  him  stood  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy,  who  wanted 
promotion  and  a  ship.  If  good  service  and  wounds  in 
battle  were  of  any  avail  he  should  have  commanded  both, 
but  it  is  very  well  known  that  in  the  Royal  Navy  there  are 
no  rewards  for  gallantry ;  men  grow  old  without  promo- 
tion :  nothing  helps  but  interest :  a  man  may  remain  a 
midshipman  for  life  without  interest :  never  has  it  been 


16  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

known  that  without  interest  a  ship  has  been  bestowed  even 
upon  the  most  deserving  officer  and  after  the  most  signal 
service.  The  lieutenant,  too,  would  be  cheered  by  a  prom- 
ise, and  lulled  by  false  hopes— but  that  he  did  not  know. 

One  man  wanted  a  post  in  the  admiralty:  the  pay  is 
small  but  the  perquisites  and  the  pickings  are  large:  for 
the  same  reason  another  asked  for  a  place  in  the  customs. 
A  young  poet  attended  with  a  subscription  list  and  a  dedi- 
cation. He  thought  that  his  volume  of  verse,  once  pub- 
lished, would  bring  him  fortune,  fame,  and  friends:  he, 
too,  would  be  disappointed.  The  clergyman  wanted  another 
living :  one  of  the  fat  and  comfortable  churches  in  the  city  : 
a  deanery  would  not  be  amiss :  he  was  even  ready  to  take 
upon  himself  the  office  of  bishop,  for  which,  indeed,  he  con- 
sidered that  his  qualifications  admirably  fitted  him.  Would 
his  lordship  exercise  his  all  powerful  influence  in  the  matter 
of  that  benefice  or  that  promotion  ? 

A  young  man,  whose  face  betrayed  the  battered  rake, 
would  be  contented  even  with  carrying  the  colours  on  the 
Cape  Coast  regiment  if  nothing  better  could  be  had.  Surely 
his  lordship  would  procure  so  small  a  thing  as  that !  If 
nothing  could  be  found  for  him  then — the  common  side  of 
the  King's  Bench  Prison  and  rags  and  starvation  until  death 
released  him.  Poor  wretch  !  He  was  on  his  way  to  that 
refuge,  but  he  knew  it  not;  for  my  lord  would  promise  to 
procure  for  him  what  he  wanted. 

So  they  all  waited,  hungry  and  expectant,  thinking  how 
best  to  frame  their  requests :  how  best  to  appear  grateful 
before  there  was  any  call  for  gratitude.  Surely  a  nobleman 
must  grow  wearied  with  the  assurances  of  gratitude  and 
promises  of  prayers.  His  experience  must  teach  him  that 
gratitude  is  but  a  short-lived  plant :  a  weed  which  com- 
monly flourishes  for  a  brief  period  and  produces  neither 
flowers  nor  fruit ;  while  as  for  the  prayers,  though  we  may 
make  no  doubt  that  the  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous 
availeth  much,  we  are  nowhere  assured  that  the  prayers  of 
the  worldly  and  the  unrighteous  are  heard  on  behalf  of  an- 
other; while  there  is  no  certainty  that  the  promised  peti- 
tion will  ever  be  offered  up  before  the  throne.  Yet  the 
suitors,  day  after  day,  repeat  the  same  promise,  and  rely  on 
the  same  belief.  "  Oh  !  my  lord,"  they  say,  or  sing  with 


MY  LORD'S  LEVEE  17 

one  accord,  "  your  name :  your  voice :  your  influence :  it 
is  all  that  I  ask.  My  gratitude :  my  life-long  gratitude : 
my  service :  my  prayers  will  all  be  yours." 

Soon  after  twelve  o'clock  the  doors  of  the  private  apart- 
ments were  thrown  open  and  his  lordship  appeared,  wearing 
the  look  of  dignity  and  proud  condescension  combined, 
which  well  became  the  star  he  wore  and  the  ancient  title 
which  he  had  inherited.  His  age  was  about  thirty,  a  time 
of  life  when  there  linger  some  remains  of  youth  and  the 
serious  responsibilities  are  yet,  with  some  men,  hardly  felt. 
His  face  was  cold  and  proud  and  hard;  the  lips  firmly  set: 
the  eyes  keen  and  even  piercing ;  the  features  regular :  his 
stature  tall,  but  not  ungainly,  his  figure  manly.  It  was 
remarkable,  among  those  who  knew  him  intimately,  that 
there  was  as  yet  no  sign  of  luxurious  living  on  face  and 
figure.  He  was  not  as  yet  swelled  out  with  wine  and 
punch :  his  neck  was  still  slender ;  his  face  pale,  without 
any  telltale  marks  of  wine  and  debauchery ;  so  far  as  ap- 
pearance goes  he  might  pass  if  he  chose,  for  a  person  of 
the  most  rigid  and  even  austere  virtue.  This,  as  I  have 
said,  was  considered  remarkable  by  his  friends,  most  of 
whom  were  already  stamped  on  face  and  feature  and  figure 
with  the  outward  and  visible  tokens  of  a  profligate  life. 
For,  to  confess  the  truth  at  the  very  beginning  and  not  to 
attempt  concealment,  or  to  suffer  a  false  belief  as  regards  this 
nobleman,  he  was  nothing  better  than  a  cold-blooded,  piti- 
less, selfish  libertine ;  a  rake,  and  a  voluptuary ;  one  who 
knew  and  obeyed  no  laws  save  the  laws  of  (so-called) 
honour.  These  laws  allow  a  man  to  waste  his  fortune  at 
the  gaming  table :  to  ruin  confiding  girls :  to  spend  his 
time  with  rake  hell  companions  in  drink  and  riot  and 
debauchery  of  all  kinds.  He  must,  however,  pay  his  gam- 
bling debts  :  he  must  not  cheat  at  cards ;  he  must  be  polite 
in  speech :  he  must  be  ready  to  fight  whenever  the  occasion 
calls  for  his  sword,  and  the  quarrel  seems  of  sufficient  im- 
portance. Lord  Fylingdale,  however,  was  not  among  those 
who  found  his  chief  pleasure  scouring  the  streets  and  in 
mad  riot.  You  shall  learn,  in  due  course,  what  forms  of 
pleasure  chiefly  attracted  him. 

I  have  said  that  his  face  was  proud.  There  was  not,  I 
believe,  any  man  living  in  the  whole  world,  who  could 


i8  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

compare  with  Lord  Fylingdale  for  pride.  An  overwhelm- 
ing pride  sat  upon  his  brow ;  was  proclaimed  by  his  eyes 
and  was  betrayed  by  his  carriage.  With  such  pride  did 
Lucifer  look  round  upon  his  companions,  fallen  as  they 
were,  and  in  the  depths  of  hopeless  ruin. 

In  many  voyages  to  foreign  parts  I  have  seen  something 
of  foreign  peoples ;  every  nation  possesses  its  own  nobility  ; 
I  suppose  that  king,  lords  and  commons  is  the  order  de- 
signed for  human  society  by  Providence.  But  I  think  that 
there  is  nowhere  any  pride  equal  to  the  pride  of  the  English 
aristocracy.  The  Spaniard,  if  I  have  observed  him  aright, 
wraps  himself  in  the  pride  of  birth  as  with  a  cloak :  it  is 
often  a  tattered  cloak:  poverty  has  no  terrors  for  him  so 
long  as  he  has  his  pride  of  birth.  Yet  he  tolerates  his  fel- 
low-countrymen whom  he  does  not  despise  because  they 
lack  what  most  he  prizes.  The  English  nobleman,  whether 
a  peer  or  only  a  younger  son,  or  a  nephew  or  a  cousin, 
provided  he  is  a  sprig  of  quality,  disdains  and  despises  all 
those  who  belong  to  the  world  of  work,  and  have  neither 
title,  nor  pedigree,  nor  coat  of  arms.  He  does  not  see  any 
necessity  for  concealing  this  contempt.  He  lacks  the 
courtesy  which  would  hide  it  in  the  presence  of  the  man 
of  trade  or  the  man  of  a  learned  profession.  To  be  sure, 
the  custom  of  the  country  encourages  him,  because  to  him 
is  given  every  place  and  every  preferment.  He  fills  the 
House  of  Commons  as  well  as  the  House  of  Lords :  he 
commands  our  armies,  our  regiments,  even  the  companies 
in  the  regiments:  he  commands  our  fleets  and  our  ships: 
he  holds  all  the  appointments  and  draws  all  the  salaries : 
he  makes  our  laws,  and,  as  justice  of  the  peace,  he  admin- 
isters them  :  he  receives  pensions,  having  done  nothing  to 
deserve  them;  he  holds  sinecures  which  require  no  duties. 
And  the  people  who  do  the  work — the  merchants  who 
bring  wealth  to  the  country  :  the  manufacturers ;  the  crafts- 
men ;  the  farmers ;  the  soldiers  who  fight  the  wars  which 
the  aristocracy  consider  necessary;  the  sailor  who  carries 
the  flag  over  the  world :  all  these  are  supposed  to  be  suffi- 
ciently rewarded  with  a  livelihood  while  they  maintain  the 
nobility  and  their  children  in  luxury  and  in  idleness  and  are 
received  and  treated  with  contempt. 

I  speak  of  what  I  have  myself  witnessed.     This  man's 


MY  LORD'S  LEVEE  19 

pride  I  have  compared  with  the  pride  of  Lucifer.  You 
shall  learn  while  I  narrate  the  things  which  follow,  that  he 
might  well  be  compared,  as  regards  his  actions  as  well,  with 
that  proud  and  presumptuous  spirit. 

He  was  dressed  in  a  manner  becoming  to  his  rank :  need 
we  dwell  upon  his  coat  of  purple  velvet ;  his  embroidered 
waistcoat ;  his  white  silk  stockings ;  his  lace  of  ruffles  and 
cravat ;  his  gold  buckles  and  his  gold  clocks ;  his  laced  hat 
carried  under  his  arm ;  his  jewelled  sword  hilt  and  the  rings 
upon  his  fingers  ?  You  would  think,  by  his  dress,  that  his 
wealth  was  equal  to  his  pride,  and,  by  his  reception  of  the 
suitors,  that  his  power  was  equal  to  both  pride  and  wealth 
together. 

The  levee  began  ;  one  after  the  other  stepped  up  to  him, 
spoke  a  few  words,  received  a  few  words  in  reply  and  re- 
tired, each,  apparently,  well  pleased.  For  promises  cost 
nothing.  To  the  poet  who  asked  for  a  subscription  and 
preferred  a  dedication,  my  lord  promised  the  former,  ac- 
cepted the  latter,  and  added  a  few  words  of  praise  and  good 
wishes.  But  the  subscription  was  never  paid ;  and  the 
dedication  was  afterwards  altered  so  far  as  the  superscrip- 
tion, to  another  noble  patron.  To  the  clergyman  who 
asked  for  a  country  living  then  vacant,  my  lord  promised 
the  most  kindly  consideration  and  bade  him  write  his  re- 
quest and  send  it  him  by  letter,  for  better  assurance  of  re- 
membrance. To  the  officer  he  promised  his  company  as 
only  due  to  gallantry  and  military  skill :  to  the  place  hunter 
he  promised  a  post  far  beyond  the  dreams  and  the  hopes  of 
the  suppliant.  Nothing  more  came  of  it  to  either. 

The  company  grew  thin  :  one  after  the  other,  the  suitors 
withdrew  to  feed  on  promises.  It  is  like  opening  your 
mouth  to  drink  the  wind.  But  'twas  all  they  got. 

Among  those  who  remained  to  the  last  was  a  man  in  the 
dress  of  a  substantial  shopkeeper,  with  a  brown  cloth  coat 
and  silver  buttons.  He,  when  his  opportunity  arrived,  ad- 
vanced and  bowed  low  to  my  lord. 

"  Sir,"  said  his  lordship,  with  gracious,  but  cold  looks, 
"  in  what  way  may  I  be  of  service  to  you  ?  " 

"With  your  lordship's  permission,  I  would  seek  a  place 
in  your  household — any  place — scullion  in  the  kitchen,  or 
groom  to  the  stable — any  place." 


20  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Why  should  I  give  you  a  place  ?  Have  I  room  in  my 
household  for  every  broken  cit  ?  " 

"  My  lord,  it  is  to  save  me  from  bankruptcy  and  the 
King's  Bench.  It  is  to  save  my  wife  and  children  from 
destitution.  There  are  already  many  shopkeepers  in  West- 
minster and  the  city  who  have  been  admitted  servants  in  the 
households  of  noblemen.  It  is  no  new  thing — your  lord- 
ship must  have  heard  of  the  custom." 

"  I  do  not  know  why  I  should  save  thy  family  or  thyself. 
However,  this  is  the  affair  of  my  steward.  Go  and  see 
him.  Tell  him  that  a  place  in  my  household  will  save  thee 
from  bankruptcy  and  prison — it  may  be  that  a  place  is 
vacant." 

The  man  bowed  again  and  retired.  He  knew  very  well 
what  was  meant.  He  would  have  to  pay  a  round  sum  for 
the  privilege.  This  noble  lord,  like  many  others  of  his 
rank,  took  money,  through  his  steward,  for  nominal  places 
in  his  household,  making  one  citizen  yeoman  of  his  dairy  ; 
in  Leicester  Fields,  perhaps,  where  no  dairy  could  be  placed  ; 
another  steward  of  the  granaries,  having  in  the  town  neither 
barns  nor  storehouses  nor  ricks :  a  third,  clerk  to  the  stud 
book,  having  no  race  horses;  and  so  on.  Thus  justice  is 
defeated,  a  man's  creditors  may  be  defied  and  a  man  may 
escape  payment  of  his  just  debts. 

When  he  was  gone,  Lord  Fylingdale  looked  round  the 
room.  In  the  window  stood,  dangling  a  cane  from  his 
wrist,  a  gentleman  dressed  in  the  highest  and  the  latest  fash- 
ion. In  his  left  hand  he  held  a  snuffbox  adorned  with  the 
figure  of  a  heathen  goddess.  To  those  who  know  the  mean- 
ing of  fashion  it  was  evident  that  he  was  in  the  front  rank, 
belonging  to  the  few  who  follow  or  command,  the  varia- 
tions of  the  passing  hour.  These  descend  to  the  smallest 
details.  I  am  told  that  the  secrets  of  the  inner  circle,  the 
select  few,  who  lead  the  fashion,  are  displayed  for  their  own 
gratification  in  the  length  of  the  cravat,  the  colour  of  the 
sash,  the  angle  of  the  sword,  the  breadth  of  the  ruffles,  the 
width  of  the  skirts,  the  tye  of  the  wig.  They  are  also  shown 
in  the  mincing  voice,  and  the  affected  tone,  and  the  use  of 
the  latest  adjectives  and  oaths.  Yet,  when  one  looked  more 
closely,  it  was  seen  that  this  gallant  exterior  arrayed  an  an- 
cient gentleman  whose  years  were  proclaimed  by  the  sharp- 


MY  LORD'S  LEVEE  21 

ening  of  his  features,  the  wrinkles  of  his  feet,  the  crows'- 
feet  round  his  eyes,  and  his  bending  shoulders  which  he  con- 
tinually endeavoured  to  set  square  and  upright.  Hat  in  one 
hand,  and  snuffbox  in  the  other,  he  ambled  towards  his 
lordship  on  tiptoe,  which  happened  just  then  to  be  the  fash- 
ionable gait. 

"  Thy  servant,  Sir  Harry " — my  lord  offered  him  his 
hand  with  condescension.  "  It  warms  my  heart  to  see  thee. 
Therefore  I  sent  a  letter.  Briefly,  Sir  Harry,  wouldst  do 
me  a  service  ?  " 

"  I  am  always  at  your  lordship's  commands.  This,  I 
hope,  I  have  proved." 

"  Then,  Sir  Harry,  this  is  the  case.  It  is  probable  that 
for  certain  private  reasons,  I  may  have  to  pay  a  visit  to  a 
country  town — a  town  of  tarpaulins  and  traders,  not  a  town 
of  fashion  " — Sir  Harry  shuddered — "  patience,  my  friend. 
I  know  not  how  long  I  shall  endure  the  barbaric  company. 
But  I  must  go — there  are  reasons — let  me  whisper — reasons 
of  state — important  secrets  which  call  me  there " — Sir 
Harry  smiled  and  looked  incredulous — "  I  want,  on  the 
spot,  a  friend  " — Sir  Harry  smiled  again,  as  one  who  began 
to  understand — "a  friend  who  would  appear  to  be  a  stranger. 
Would  you,  therefore,  play  the  part  of  such  a  friend  ?  " 

"  I  will  do  whatever  your  lordship  commands.  Yet  to 
leave  town  at  this  season" — it  was  then  the  month  of  April 
— "  the  assembly,  the  park,  the  card  table — the  society  of 
the  ladies " 

"  The  loss  will  be  theirs,  Sir  Harry.  To  lose  their  old 

favourite — oh  !  there  will  be  lamentations,  at  the  rout 

Perhaps,  however,  we  may  find  consolations." 

"  Impossible.  There  are  none  out  of  town,  except  at 
Bath  or  Tunbridge " 

"  The  ladies  of  Norfolk  are  famous  for  their  beauty." 

"  Hoydens — I  know  them, 

"'I  who  erst  beneath  a  tree 

Sung,  Bumpkinet,  and  Bowzybee, 
And  Blouzelind  and  Marian  bright 
In  aprons  blue  or  aprons  white,' 

as  Gay  hath  it.  Hoydens,  my  lord,  I  know  them.  They 
play  whist  and  dance  jigs." 


22  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"The  Norfolk  gentlemen  drink  hard  and  the  wine  is 

good." 

"Nay,  my   lord,  this   is   cruel.     For   I    can    drink  no 

longer." 

"  I  shall  find  other  diversions  for  you.     It  is  possible- 
I  say— possible— that  the  Lady  Anastasia  may  go  there  as 
well.     She  will,  as  usual,  keep  the  bank  if  she  does  go." 

The  old  beau's  face  cleared,  whether  in  anticipation  of 
Lady  Anastasia's  society  or  her  card  table  I  know  not. 

"  My  character,  Sir  Harry,  will  be  in  your  hands.  I 
leave  it  there  confidently.  For  reasons — reasons  of  state- 
it  should  be  a  character  of  .  .  ." 

"  I  understand.     Your  lordship  is  a  model  of  all  the  vir- 


tues  

«  So — we  understand.  My  secretary  will  converse  with 
thee  further  on  the  point  of  expenditure." 

Sir  Harry  retired,  bowing  and  twisting  his  body  some- 
thing like  an  ape. 

Then  a  gentleman  in  scarlet  presented  himself. 

"Your  lordship's  most  obedient,"  he  said,  with  scant 
courtesy.  "  I  come  in  obedience  to  your  letter — for  com- 
mand." 

"  Colonel,  you  will  hold  yourself  in  readiness  to  go  into 
the  country.  There  will  be  play — you  may  lose  as  much 
as  you  please — to  Sir  Harry  Malyus  or  to  any  one  else  whom 
my  secretary  will  point  out  to  you.  Perhaps  you  may  have 
to  receive  a  remonstrance  from  me.  We  are  strangers,  re- 
member, and  I  am  no  gambler,  though  I  sometimes  take  a 
card." 

"  I  await  your  lordship's  further  commands."  So  he, 
too,  retired.  A  proper  well-set-up  figure  he  was,  with  the 
insolence  of  the  trooper  in  his  face,  and  the  signs  of  strong 
drink  on  his  nose.  Any  one  who  knew  the  town  would  set 
him  down  for  a  half-pay  captain,  a  sharper,  a  bully,  a  roys- 
terer,  one  who  lived  by  his  wits,  one  who  was  skilled  in 
billiards  and  commonly  lucky  at  any  game  of  cards.  Per- 
haps such  a  judgment  of  the  gallant  colonel  would  not  be 
far  wrong. 

There  remained  one  suitor.  He  was  a  clergyman  dressed 
in  a  fine  silk  cassock  with  bands  of  the  whitest  and  a  noble 
wig  of  the  order  Ecclesiastic.  I  doubt  if  the  archbishop 


MY  LORD'S  LEVEE  23 

himself  had  a  finer.  He  was  in  all  respects  a  divine  of  the 
superior  kind  :  a  dean,  perhaps ;  an  archdeacon,  perhaps ; 
a  canon,  rector,  vicar,  chaplain,  with  a  dozen  benefices,  no 
doubt.  His  thin,  slight  figure  carried  a  head  too  big  for  his 
body.  His  face  was  sallow  and  thin,  the  features  regular; 
he  bore  the  stamp  of  a  scholar  and  had  the  manner  of  a 
scoffer.  He  spoke  as  if  he  was  in  the  pulpit,  with  a  voice 
loud,  clear  and  resonant,  as  though  the  mere  power  of  hear- 
ing that  voice  diffused  around  him  the  blessings  of  virtue 
and  piety  and  a  clear  conscience. 

"  Good,  my  lord,"  he  said,  "  I  am,  as  usual,  a  suppliant. 
The  rectory  of  St.  Leonard  le  Size,  Jewry,  in  the  city,  is 
now  vacant.  With  my  small  benefices  in  the  country,  it 
would  suit  me  hugely.  A  word  from  your  lordship  to  the 
lord  mayor — the  rectory  is  in  the  gift  of  the  corporation — 
would,  I  am  sure,  suffice." 

"  If,  my  old  tutor,  the  thing  can  be  done  by  me,  you  may 
consider  it  as  settled.  There  are,  however,  I  would  have 
you  to  consider,  one  or  two  scandals  still  outstanding,  the 
memory  of  which  may  have  reached  the  ears  of  the  city. 
These  city  people,  for  all  their  ignorance  of  fashion,  do 
sometimes  hear  of  things.  The  little  affair  at  Bath,  for 
instance " 

"  The  lady  hath  since  returned  to  her  own  home.  It  is 
now  quite  forgotten  and  blown  over.  My  innocency  is 
always  well  known  to  your  lordship." 

"Assuredly.  Has  that  other  little  business  at  Oxford 
blown  over  ?  Are  certain  verses  still  attributed  to  the  Rev- 
erend Benjamin  Purdon  ?  " 

His  reverence  lightly  blew  upon  his  fingers.  "  That  re- 
port is  now  forgotten.  But  'tis  a  censorious  world.  One 
man  is  hanged  for  looking  over  a  gate  while  another  steals 
a  pig  and  is  applauded.  As  for  the  author  of  those  verses, 
he  still  remains  undiscovered,  while  the  verses  themselves 
— a  deplorable  fact — are  handed  about  for  the  joy  of  the 
undergraduates." 

"  Next  time,  then,  steal  the  pig.  Frankly,  friend  Purdon, 
thy  name  is  none  of  the  sweetest,  and  I  doubt  if  the  bishop 
would  consent.  Meantime,  you  are  living,  as  usual,  I  sup- 
pose, at  great  expense " 

"  At  small  expense,  considering  my  abilities ;  but  still  at 


24  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

greater  expense  than  my  slender  income  will  allow.  Am  I 
not  your  lordship's  domestic  chaplain  ?  Must  I  not  keep 
up  the  dignity  due  to  the  position  ?  " 

"Your  dignity  is  costly.  I  must  get  a  bishopric  or  a 
deanery  for  you.  Meantime  I  have  a  small  service  to  ask 
of  you." 

"  Small  ?  My  lord,  let  it  be  great :  it  cannot  be  too 
great." 

"  It  is  that  you  go  into  the  country  for  me." 

"  Not  to  Bath — or  to  Oxford  ? "  His  reverence  betrayed 
an  anxiety  on  this  point  which  was  not  quite  in  harmony 
with  his  previous  declarations. 

"  Not  to  either.  To  another  place,  where  they  know 
not  thy  name  or  thy  fame.  Very  good.  I  thought  I  could 
depend  upon  your  loyalty.  As  for  arrangements  and  time, 
you  will  hear  from  my  secretary."  So  my  lord  turned  on 
his  heel  and  his  chaplain  was  dismissed.  He  remained  for 
a  moment,  looking  after  his  master  doubtfully.  The  order 
liked  him  not.  He  was  growing  old  and  would  have  chosen, 
had  he  the  power  of  choice,  some  fat  city  benefice  with 
two  or  three  country  livings  thrown  in.  He  was  tired  of 
his  dependence :  perhaps  he  was  tired  of  a  life  that  ill  be- 
came his  profession :  perhaps  he  could  no  longer  enjoy  it  as 
of  old..  There  was,  at  least,  no  sign  of  repentance  as  there 
was  no  touch  of  the  spiritual  life  in  his  face,  which  was 
stamped  with  the  plain  and  visible  marks  of  the  world,  the 
flesh  and  the  devil.  What  is  that  stamp  ?  Nobody  can 
paint  it,  or  describe  it :  yet  it  is  understood  and  recognised 
whenever  one  sees  it.  And  it  stood  out  legible  so  that  all 
those  who  ran  might  read  upon  the  face  of  this  reverend 
and  learned  divine. 

When  the  levee  was  finished  and  everybody  gone,  Lord 
Fylingdale  sank  into  a  chair.  I  know  not  the  nature  of 
his  thoughts  save  that  they  were  not  pleasant,  for  his  face 
grew  darker  every  moment.  Finally,  he  sprang  to  his  feet 
and  rang  the  bell.  "  Tell  Mr.  Semple  that  I  would  speak 
with  him,"  he  ordered. 

Mr.  Semple,  the  same  Samuel  whom  you  have  seen  un- 
der a  basting  from  the  captain,  was  now  changed  and  for 
the  better.  His  dress  was  simple.  No  one  could  guess 
from  his  apparel  the  nature  of  his  occupation.  For  all 


MY  LORD'S  LEVEE  25 

professions  and  all  crafts  there  is  a  kind  of  uniform.  The 
divine  wears  gown  and  cassock,  bands  and  wig,  which 
proclaim  his  calling :  the  lawyer  is  also  known  by  his  gown 
and  marks  his  rank  at  the  bar  by  coif  and  wig :  the  attor- 
ney puts  on  broadcloth  black  of  hue  :  the  physician  as- 
sumes black  velvet,  a  magisterial  wig,  and  a  gold-headed 
cane.  The  officer  wears  the  King's  scarlet ;  the  nobleman 
his  star :  the  sprig  of  quality  puts  on  fine  apparel  and  as- 
sumes an  air  and  manner  unknown  to  Cheapside  and  Lud- 
gate  Hill :  you  may  also  know  him  by  his  speech.  The 
merchant  wears  black  velvet  with  gold  buttons,  gold 
buckles,  white  silk  stockings  and  a  gold-laced,  hat ;  the 
shopkeeper  substitutes  silver  for  gold  and  cloth  for  velvet: 
the  clerk  has  brown  cloth  metal  buttons  and  worsted  stock- 
ings. As  for  the  crafts,  has  not  each  its  own  jacket, 
sleeves,  apron,  cap,  and  badge  ? 

But  for  this  man,  where  would  we  place  him  ?  What 
calling  did  he  represent  ?  For  he  wore  the  flowered  waist- 
coat— somewhat  frayed  and  stained,  of  a  beau,  and  the 
black  coat  of  the  merchant :  the  worsted  stockings  of  the 
clerk  and  his  metal  buttons.  Yet  he  was  neither  gentle- 
man, merchant,  shopkeeper,  clerk,  nor  craftsman.  He  was 
a  member  of  that  fraternity  which  is  no  fraternity  because 
there  is  no  brotherhood  among  them  all ;  in  which  every 
man  delights  to  slander,  gird  at,  and  to  depreciate  his 
brother.  In  other  words  he  wore  the  dress — which  is  no 
uniform — of  a  poet.  At  this  time  he  also  called  himself 
secretary  to  his  lordship  having  by  ways  known  only  to 
himself,  and  by  wrigglings  up  back  stairs,  and  services  of  a 
kind  never  proclaimed  to  the  world,  made  himself  useful. 
The  position  also  granted  him,  as  it  granted  certain  trades- 
men, immunity  from  arrest.  He  had  the  privilege  of  walk- 
ing abroad  through  a  street  full  of  hungering  creditors,  and 
that,  not  on  Sundays  only,  like  most  of  his  tribe,  but  on 
every  day  in  the  week. 

He  obeyed  the  summons  and  entered  the  room  with  a 
humble  cringe. 

"  Semple,"  said  his  lordship,  crossing  his  legs  and  play- 
ing with  the  tassel  of  his  sword  knot,  "  I  have  read  thy 
letter " 


Your  lordship  will  impute 


26  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  First,  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  preamble  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  your  lordship's  secretary  for  six  months. 
I  have  therefore  perused  all  your  lordship's  letters.  I  have 
also  in  my  zeal  for  your  lordship's  interests — looked  about 
me.  And  I  discovered— what  I  ventured  to  state  in  that 
preamble." 

"  Well,  sir  ?  " 

"  Namely,  that  the  Fylingdale  estates  are  gone  so  far  as 
your  lordship's  life  is  concerned — but — in  a  word,  all  is 
gone.  And  that — your  lordship  will  pardon  the  plain  truth 

your  lordship's  credit  cannot  last  long  and  that — I  now 

touch  a  most  delicate  point  to  a  man  of  your  lordship's 
nice  sense  of  honour — the  only  resource  left  is  precarious." 

"  You  mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean — a  certain  lady  and  a  certain  bank." 

"  How,  sir  ?  Do  you  dare  ?  What  has  put  this  suspi- 
cion into  your  head  ?  " 

"  Nay,  my  lord — I  have  no  thought  but  for  your  lord- 
ship's interests,  believe  me." 

"  And  so  you  tell  me  about  the  rustic  heiress,  and  you 
propose  a  plan " 

"  I  have  had  the  temerity  to  do  so." 

"  Yes.  Tell  me  once  more  about  this  girl — and  about 
her  fortune." 

"  Her  name  is  Molly  Miller :  she  is  an  orphan :  her 
guardian  is  an  honest  sailor  who  has  taken  the  greatest  care 
of  her  property.  She  was  an  heiress  already  when  her  father 
died.  That  was  eighteen  years  ago ;  she  is  now  nineteen." 

"  Is  she  passable — to  look  at  ?  A  hoyden  with  a  high 
colour,  I  warrant." 

"  A  cream-coloured  complexion,  touched  with  red  and 
pink :  light  hair  in  curls  and  blue  eyes ;  the  face  and  figure 
of  a  Venus;  the  sweetest  mouth  in  the  world  and  the 
fondest  manner." 

"  Hang  me  if  the  fellow  isn't  in  love  with  her,  himself ! 
If  she  is  all  this,  man,  why  not  apply  yourself,  for  the  post 
of  spouse  ? " 

"  Because  her  guardian  keeps  off  all  would-be  lovers  and 
destines  his  ward  for  a  gentleman  at  least — for  a  nobleman, 
he  hopes." 

"  He  is  ambitious.     Now  as  to  her  fortune." 


MY  LORD'S  LEVEE  27 

"  She  has  a  fleet  of  half  a  dozen  tall  vessels — nay,  there 
are  more,  but  I  know  not  how  many.  I  was  formerly 
clerk  in  a  countinghouse  of  the  town  and  I  learned  a  great 
deal — what  each  is  worth  and  what  the  freight  of  each  voy- 
age may  produce — but  not  all.  The  captain,  her  guardian, 
keeps  things  close.  My  lord,  I  can  assure  you,  from  what 
I  learned  in  that  capacity  and  by  looking  into  old  books, 
that  she  must  be  worth  over  a  hundred  thousand  pounds — 
over  a  hundred  thousand  pounds  !  My  lord,  there  is  no 
such  heiress  in  the  city.  In  your  lordship's  interests  I  have 
enquired  in  the  taverns  where  the  merchants'  clerks  con- 
gregate. They  know  of  all  the  city  heiresses.  The  greatest, 
at  this  moment,  is  the  only  daughter  of  a  tallow  chandler 
who  has  twenty  thousand  to  her  name.  She  squints." 

"  Why  have  you  given  me  this  information  ?  The  girl 
belongs  to  your  friends — are  you  anxious  for  her  happiness  ? 
You  know  my  way  of  life.  Would  that  way  make  her 
happier  ?  " 

The  man  made  no  reply. 

"  Come,  Semple,  out  with  it.  Your  reasons — gratitude 
— to  me — or  revenge  upon  an  enemy  ?  " 

The  man  coloured.  He  looked  up  :  he  stood  upright 
but  for  a  moment  only.  Then  his  eyes  dropped  and  his 
shoulders  contracted. 

"  Gratitude,  my  lord,  to  you,"  he  replied.  "  Revenge  ? 
Why  what  reason  should  I  have  for  revenge  ?  " 

"  How  should  I  know  of  any  ?     Let  it  be  gratitude,  then." 

"  I  have  ventured  to  submit — not  a  condition — but  a 
prayer." 

"  I  have  read  the  clause.  I  grant  it.  On  the  day  after 
the  marriage  if  the  plan  comes  to  anything,  I  will  present 
thee  to  a  place  where  there  are  no  duties  and  many  per- 
quisites. That  is  understood.  I  would  put  this  promise  in 
writing  but  no  writing  would  bind  me  more  than  my  word." 

"  Yet  I  would  have  the  promise  in  writing." 

"You  are  insolent,  sirrah." 

"  I  am  protecting  myself.  My  lord,  I  must  speak  openly 
in  this  matter.  How  many  promises  have  you  made  this 
morning?  How  many  will  you  keep?  I  must  not  be 
pushed  aside  with  such  a  promise." 

Lord  Fylingdale  made  no  reply. 


28  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  I  offer  you  a  fortune  of  a  hundred  thousands  pounds 
and  more." 

"  I  can  now  take  this  fortune  without  your  assistance." 

"  With  submission,  my  lord,  you  cannot.  I  know  too 
much." 

"What  shall  I  write,  then  ?  " 

"  I  am  only  reasonable.  The  girl's  fortune  when  you 
have  it  will  go  the  same  way  as  your  rents  and  woods  have 
gone.  Provide  for  me,  therefore,  before  you  begin  to  spend 
that  money." 

"Semple,  I  did  not  think  you  had  so  much  courage. 
Learn  that  a  dozen  times  I  have  been  on  the  point  of  kick- 
ing you  out  of  the  house.  Now,"  he  rose,  "give  me 
paper  and  a  pen — and  I  will  write  this  promise." 

Semple  placed  a  chair  at  the  table  and  laid  paper  and  pen 
before  it.  "  Let  me  presume  so  far  as  to  dictate  the  prom- 
ise," he  said.  "  I  undertake  and  promise  that  on  the  day 
after  my  marriage  with  the  girl  named  Molly  Miller,  I  will 
give  Samuel  Semple  such  a  place  as  will  provide  him  for 
life  with  a  salary  of  not  less  than  £200  a  year.  So — will 
your  lordship  sign  it  ?  " 

He  took  up  this  precious  paper  from  the  table,  read  it, 
folded  it  and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

"  What  next  ?  "  asked  his  patron. 

"  I  am  preparing  a  scheme  which  will  give  a  plausible 
excuse  for  your  lordship's  visit  to  the  town.  I  have  al- 
ready suggested  that  certain  friends  should  prepare  the  way. 
The  lady's  guardian  has  prejudices  in  favour  of  morality 
and  religion.  They  are,  I  know,  beneath  your  lordship's 
notice — yet  still — it  will  be  in  fact,  necessary  that  your 
lordship's  character  shall  be  such  as  will  commend  itself  to 
this  unfashionable  old  sailor." 

"  We  will  speak  again  upon  this  point.  The  girl  you 
say  has  no  lover." 

"  She  has  no  lover.  Your  lordship's  rank :  your  man- 
ner: your  appearance  will  certainly  carry  the  day.  By 
contrast  alone  with  the  country  bumpkins  the  heart  of  the 
girl  will  be  won." 

"Mr.  Semple,"  his  lordship  yawned.  "  Do  you  suppose 
that  the  heart  of  the  girl  concerns  me  ?  Go  and  complete 
your  scheme — of  gratitude,  not  revenge." 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    LADY    ANASTASIA 

THE  Lady  Anastasia  was  in  her  dressing-room  in  the 
hands  of  her  friseur,  the  French  hairdresser,  and  her  maid. 
She  sat  in  a  dishabille  which  was  a  loose  robe,  called,  I  be- 
lieve a  nightgown,  of  pink  silk,  trimmed  with  lace,  which 
showed  the  greater  part  of  a  very  well  shaped  arm;  she 
had  one  slipper  off  and  one  slipper  on,  which  showed  a 
very  small  and  well  shaped  foot,  but  no  one  was  there  to 
see.  Her  maid  was  busy  at  the  toilette  table  which  was 
covered  with  glass  bottles  containing  liquids  of  attractive 
colour;  silver  patch  boxes;  powder  boxes;  powder  puffs ; 
cosmetics  in  pots,  and  other  mysterious  secrets  into  which 
it  would  be  useless  and  fruitless  to  inquire.  The  artist,  for 
his  part,  was  laboriously  and  conscientiously  building  the 
edifice — object  of  so  much  ingenuity  and  thought — called  a 
"Head." 

She  was  in  the  best  temper  imaginable.  When  you  hear 
that  she  had  won  overnight  the  sum  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty  guineas  you  will  understand  that  she  had  exactly 
that  number  of  reasons  for  being  satisfied  with  the  world. 
Moreover,  she  had  received  from  an  admirer  a  present  in 
the  shape  of  a  piece  of  china  representing  a  monkey, 
which,  she  reflected  with  satisfaction,  would  awaken  in  the 
minds  of  her  friends  the  keenest  feelings  of  envy,  jealousy, 
hatred,  longing,  and  despair. 

The  Lady  Anastasia  was  the  young  widow  of  an  old 
baronet :  she  was  also  the  daughter  of  an  earl  and  the  sis- 
ter of  his  successor.  She  therefore  enjoyed  the  freedom 
of  a  widow ;  the  happiness  natural  to  youth ;  and  all  the 
privileges  of  rank.  No  woman  could  be  happier.  It  was 
reported  that  her  love  of  the  card  table  had  greatly  im- 
paired her  income  :  the  world  said  that  her  own  private  dowry 
was  wholly  gone  and  a  large  part  of  her  jointure.  But  it 
is  a  spiteful  world — all  that  was  known  for  certain  was  that 

29 


3o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

she  played  much  and  that  she  played  high.  Perhaps  For- 
tune, in  a  mood  of  penitence,  was  giving  back  what  she 
had  previously  taken  away.  The  contrary  is  commonly 
the  case,  viz,  that  Fortune,  which  certainly  takes  away 
with  alacrity,  restores  with  reluctance. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  reports  were  not  true. 

She  kept  a  small  establishment  in  Mount  Street:  her 
people  consisted  of  no  more  than  two  footmen,  a  butler,  a 
lady's  maid,  a  housekeeper,  and  three  or  four  maids  with 
two  chairmen.  She  did  not  live  as  a  rich  woman :  she  re- 
ceived, it  is  true,  twice  a  week,  on  Sundays  and  Wednes- 
days, but  not  with  any  expense  of  supper  and  wine.  Her 
friends  came  to  play  cards  and  she  held  the  bank  for  them. 
On  other  evenings  she  went  out  and  played  at  the  houses 
of  her  friends. 

Except  for  fashions  and  her  dress — what  fine  woman  but 
makes  that  exception  ? — she  had  no  other  occupation ;  no 
other  pursuit ;  no  other  subject  of  conversation,  than  the 
playing  of  cards.  She  played  at  all  games  and  knew  them 
all ;  she  sat  down  with  a  willing  mind  to  Ombre,  Faro, 
Quadrille,  Basset,  Loo,  Cribbage,  All  Fours,  or  Beggar  my 
Neighbour,  but  mostly  she  preferred  the  game  of  Hazard, 
when  she  herself  kept  the  bank.  It  is  a  game  which  more 
than  any  other  allures  and  draws  on  the  player  so  that  a 
young  man  who  has  never  before  been  known  to  set  a 
guinea  on  any  card,  or  to  play  at  any  game,  will  in  a  single 
night  be  filled  with  all  the  ardour  and  eagerness  of  a  prac- 
tised gamester;  will  know  the  extremes  of  joy  and  despair; 
and  will  regard  the  largest  fortune  as  bestowed  by  Provi- 
dence for  no  other  purpose  than  to  prolong  the  excitement 
and  the  agony  of  a  gamester. 

While  the  Lady  Anastasia  was  still  admiring  the  china 
vase  set  upon  the  table,  so  that  she  might  gaze  upon  it  and 
so  refresh  her  soul,  and  while  the  friseur  was  still  complet- 
ing her  head,  Lord  Fylingdale  was  announced.  The  lady 
blushed  violently  :  she  sat  up  and  looked  anxiously  in  the 
glass. 

"  Betty,"  she  cried,  "  a  touch  of  red — not  much,  you 
clumsy  creature !  Will  you  never  learn  to  have  a  lighter 
hand  ?  So  !  that  is  better.  I  am  horribly  pale.  His  lord- 
ship can  wait  in  the  morning  room.  You  have  nearly 


THE  LADY  ANASTASIA  31 

finished,  monsieur  ?  Quick  then  !  The  last  touches. 
Betty,  the  flowered  satin  petticoat.  My  fan.  The  pearl 
necklace.  So,"  she  looked  again  at  the  glass,  "  am  I  look- 
ing tolerable,  Betty  ?  " 

"Your  ladyship  is  ravishing,"  said  Betty  finishing  the 
toilette.  In  truth,  it  was  a  very  pretty  creature  if  one 
knew  how  much  was  real  and  how  much  was  due  to  art. 
The  complexion  was  certainly  laid  on ;  the  hair  was  pow- 
dered and  built  up  over  cushions  and  pillows ;  there  were 
patches  on  the  cheek :  the  neck  was  powdered ;  eyes 
naturally  very  fine  were  set  off  and  made  more  lustrous 
with  a  touch  of  dark  powder :  the  frock  and  petticoat  and 
hoop  were  all  alike  removed  from  nature.  However,  the  re- 
sult v/as  a  beautiful  woman  of  fashion  who  is  far  removed 
indeed  from  the  beautiful  woman  as  made  by  the  Creator. 
For  her  age  the  Lady  Anastasia  might  have  been  seven 
and  twenty,  or  even  thirty — an  age  when  with  some 
women,  the  maturity  of  their  beauty  is  even  more  charming 
than  the  first  sprightly  loveliness  of  youth. 

She  swam  out  of  the  room  with  a  gliding  movement, 
then  the  fashion,  and  entered  the  morning  room  where 
Lord  Fylingdale  awaited  her. 

"  Anastasia  !  "  he  said,  softly,  taking  her  hand.  "  It  is 
very  good  of  you  to  see  me  alone.  I  feared  you  would  be 
surrounded  with  courtiers  and  fine  ladies  or  with  singers, 
musicians,  hairdressers,  and  other  baboons.  Permit  me," 
he  raised  her  hand  to  his  lips.  "  You  look  divine  this 
morning.  It  is  long  since  I  have  seen  you  look  so  per- 
fectly charming." 

The  lady  murmured  something.  She  was  one  of  those 
women  who  like  above  all  things  to  hear  praises  of  what  most 
they  prize,  their  beauty,  and  to  believe  what  they  most  de- 
sire to  be  the  truth,  the  preservation  and  perfecting  of  that 
beauty. 

"But  you  came  to  see  me  alone.  Was  it  to  tell  me 
that  I  look  charming  ?  Other  men  tell  me  as  much  in 
company." 

"  Not  altogether  that,  dear  lady,  though  that  is  some- 
thing. I  come  to  tell  you  of  a  change  of  plans." 

"  You  have  heard  that  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex  has 
presented  me  by  name  as  a  corruptor  of  innocence,  and  I 


32  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

now   not    what,    because    I    hold    my    bank   on    Sunday 

nights." 

"  I  have  heard  something  of  the  matter.  It  is  almost 
time, I  think, to  give  these  presumptuous  shopkeepers  ales- 
son  not  to  interfere  with  the  pursuits  of  persons  of  rank. 
Let  them  confine  themselves  to  the  prentices  who  play  at 
pitch  and  toss." 

"  Oh  !  what  matters  their  presentment  ?  I  shall  con- 
tinue to  keep  the  bank  on  Sunday  nights.  Now,  my  dear 
lord,  what  about  these  plans  ?  What  is  changed  ?  " 

"  We  thought,  you  remember,  about  going  to  Tun- 
bridge,  in  July." 

"  Well  ?     Shall  we  not  go  there  ?  " 

"Perhaps.  But  there  is  something  to  be  done  first. 
Let  me  confide  in  you " 

"  My  dear  lord — you  have  never  confided  in  anybody." 

"  Except  in  you.  I  think  you  know  all  my  secrets  if  I 
have  any.  In  whom  else  can  I  confide  ?  In  the  creatures 
who  importune  me  for  places  ?  In  friends  of  the  green 
table  ?  In  friends  of  the  race  course  ?  My  dear  Anastasia, 
you  know,  I  assure  you,  as  much  about  my  personal  affairs 
as  I  know  myself." 

"  If  you  would  always  speak  so  kindly  " — her  eyes  be- 
came humid  but  not  tearful.  A  lady  of  fashion  must  not 
spoil  her  cheek  by  tears. 

"  Well,  then,  the  case  is  this.  You  know  of  the  con- 
dition of  my  affairs — no  one  better.  An  opportunity  pre- 
sents itself  to  effect  a  great  improvement.  I  am  invited  by 
the  highest  personage  to  take  a  more  active  part  in  the  af- 
fairs of  state.  No  one  is  to  know  this.  For  reasons 
connected  with  this  proposal  I  am  to  visit  a  certain  town — 
a  trading  town — a  town  of  rough  sailors,  there  to  conduct 
certain  enquiries.  There  is  to  be  a  gathering  at  this  town 
of  the  gentry  and  people  of  the  county.  Would  you  like 
to  go,  my  dear  friend  ?  It  will  be  next  month." 

"  To  leave  town — and  in  May,  just  before  the  end  of 
the  season  ? " 

"  There  will  be  opportunities,  I  am  told,  of  holding  a 
bank ;  and  a  good  many  sportsmen — 'tis  a  sporting  county 
— may  be  expected  to  lay  their  money.  In  a  word,  An- 
astasia, it  will  not  be  a  bad  exchange." 


THE  LADY  ANASTASIA  33 

"  And  how  can  I  help  you  ?     Why  should  I  go  there  ?  " 

"  By  letting  the  people — the  county  people,  understand 
the  many  virtues  and  graces  which  distinguish  my  char- 
acter. No  one  knows  me  better  than  yourself." 

The  lady  smiled — "  No  one,"  she  murmured. 

"  — Or  can  speak  with  greater  authority  on  the  subject. 
There  will  be  certain  of  our  friends  there — the  parson — 
Sir  Harry — the  colonel " 

"  Pah  !  a  beggarly  crew — and  blown  upon — they  are 
dangerous." 

"  Not  at  this  quiet  and  secluded  town.  They  will  be 
strangers  to  you  as  well  as  to  me.  And  they  will  be  use- 
ful. After  all,  in  such  a  place  you  need  an  opening.  They 
will  lead  the  way." 

The  lady  made  no  response. 

"  I  may  call  it  settled,  then  ?  "  He  still  held  her  hand. 
"  If  you  would  rather  not  go,  Anastasia,  I  will  find  some 
one  else — but  I  had  hoped " 

She  drew  away  her  hand.  "  You  are  right,"  she  said, 
"  no  one  knows  you  so  well  as  myself.  And  all  I  know 
about  you  is  that  you  are  always  contriving  some  devilry. 
What  is  it  this  time  ?  But  you  will  not  tell  me.  You 
never  tell  me." 

"  Anastasia,  you  do  me  an  injustice.  This  is  a  purely 
political  step." 

"  As  you  will.  Call  it  what  you  please.  I  am  your 
servant — you  know  that — your  handmaid — in  all  things — 
save  one.  Not  for  any  other  woman,  Ludovick — not  for 
any  other — unfortunate — woman  will  I  lift  my  little  finger. 
Should  you  betray  me  in  this  respect " 

He  laughed.  "  A  woman  ?  And  in  that  company  ? 
Rest  easy,  dear  child.  Be  jealous  as  much  as  you  please 
but  not  with  such  a  cause." 

He  touched  her  cheek  with  his  finger :  he  stooped  and 
kissed  her  hand  and  withdrew. 

The  Lady  Anastasia  stood  awhile  where  he  left  her. 
The  joy  had  gone  out  of  her  heart :  she  trembled :  she 
was  seized  with  a  foreboding  of  evil.  She  threw  herself 
upon  the  sofa  and  buried  her  face  in  her  hands,  and  forget- 
ful of  paste  and  patch  and  paint  she  suffered  the  murderous 
tears  to  destroy  that  work  of  art — her  finished  face. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  "SOCIETY"  OF  LYNN 

IT  was  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  early  April, 
at  the  going  down  of  the  sun  that  I  was  at  last  able  to  drop 
into  the  dingy  and  go  ashore.  All  day  and  all  night  and  all 
the  day  before  we  had  been  beating  through  the  shallows  of 
the  Wash  and  the  narrow  channel  of  the  Ouse.  We  had 
laid  her  to  her  moorings  off  the  Common  Stath  and  made 
all  taut  and  trim :  the  captain  had  gone  ashore  with  the 
papers :  the  customhouse  officer  had  been  aboard :  we 
were  to  begin  breaking  cargo  on  the  morrow.  The  ship 
was  The  Lady  of  Lynn,  380  tons,  Robert  Jaggard,  master 
marines,  being  captain,  and  I  the  mate  or  chief  officer. 
There  was  no  better  skipper  in  the  port  of  Lynn  than 
Captain  Jaggard  :  there  was  no  better  crew  than  that  aboard 
The  Lady  of'  Lynn,  not  a  skulker  or  a  lubber  in  the  whole 
ship's  company ;  and  though  I  say  it  myself,  I  dare  affirm 
that  the  mate  did  credit  to  his  ship  as  much  as  the  captain 
and  the  crew.  We  were  in  the  Lisbon  trade:  we  had 
therefore  come  home  laden  with  casks  of  the  rich  strong 
wine  of  the  country :  the  Port  and  Lisbon  Sherry  and 
Malaga,  besides  Madeira  and  the  wine  of  Teneriffe  and  the 
Grand  Canary.  Our  people  of  the  Marshland  and  the 
Fens  and  those  of  Lincolnshire  and  Norfolk  where  the  strong 
air  of  the  east  winds  kill  all  but  the  stoutest,  cannot  have 
too  much  of  this  rich  wine :  they  will  not  drink  the  lighter 
wines  of  Bordeaux  which  neither  fire  the  blood  nor  mount 
to  the  head.  A  prosperous  voyage  we  had  made :  the  Bay  of 
Biscay  suffered  us  to  cross  with  no  more  than  half  a  gale : 
The  Lady  of  Lynn,  in  fact,  was  known  in  port  to  be  a  lucky 
ship — as  lucky  as  her  owner — lucky  in  her  voyages  and 
lucky  in  her  cargoes. 

At  the  stairs  of  the  Common  Stath  Yard  I  made  fast  the 
painter  and  shipped  the  sculls.  And  there,  waiting  for  me, 

34 


THE  "SOCIETY"  OF  LYNN  35 

was  none  other  than  my  good  old  friend  and  patron,  Cap- 
tain Crowle. 

The  captain  was  by  this  time  well  advanced  in  life,  being 
upwards  of  seventy :  yet  he  showed  little  touch  of  time : 
his  honest  face  being  still  round  and  full ;  his  eyes  still  free 
from  lines  and  crows'-feet ;  his  cheek  ruddy  and  freckled,  as 
if  with  the  salt  sea  breeze  and  the  driving  spray.  He  was 
also  as  upright  as  any  man  of  thirty  and  walked  with  as 
firm  a  step  and  had  no  need  of  the  stout  stick  which  he 
carried  in  his  hand,  as  a  weapon  and  a  cudgel  for  the  un- 
righteous, more  than  a  staff  for  the  bending  knees  of  old 
age. 

"What  cheer — ahoy  ?  "  He  shouted  from  the  quay  as  I 
dropped  over  the  side  into  the  dingy.  "  What  cheer, 
Jack  ? "  he  repeated  when  I  ran  up  the  steps.  "  I've  seen 
the  skipper.  Come  with  me  to  the  Crown" — but  the 
proper  place  for  mates  was  the  Duke's  Head.  "  Nay,  it 
shall  be  the  Crown.  A  bowl  of  punch  shall  welcome  back 
The  Lady  of  Lynn."  He  turned  and  looked  at  the  ship 
lying  in  the  river  at  her  moorings  among  the  other  craft. 
"  She's  as  fine  a  vessel  as  this  old  port  can  show — and  she's 
named  after  as  fine  a  maid.  Shalt  see  her  to-morrow,  Jack, 
but  not  to-night." 

"  I  trust,  sir,  that  she  is  well  and  in  good  spirits." 

"  Ay — ay.  Nothing  ails  her — nothing  ails  her,  Jack," 
he  pointed  with  his  stick.  "Look  how  she  flourishes. 
There  are  fifteen  tall  ships  moored  two  and  two  off  the 
King's  Stath  and  half  a  dozen  more  off  the  Common  Stath. 
Count  them,  Jack.  Six  of  these  ships  belong  to  the  little 
maid.  Six  of  them — and  two  more  are  afloat,  of  which 
one  is  homeward  bound  and  should  be  in  port  soon  if  all 
goes  well.  Eight  noble  ships,  Jack,  are  hers.  And  the  in- 
come of  nigh  upon  eighteen  years  and  houses  and  broad 
lands." 

"  She  has  a  prudent  guardian,  captain." 

"  May  be — may  be.  I  don't  deny,  Jack,  but  I've  done 
the  best  I  could.  Year  after  year,  the  money  mounteth  up 
more  and  more.  You  love  her,  Jack,  and  therefore  I  tell 
you  these  things.  And  you  can  keep  counsel.  I  talk  not 
in  the  market  place.  No  one  knows  her  wealth  but  you 
and  me.  They  think  that  I  am  part  owner.  I  let  them 


36  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

think  so,  but  you  and  I  know  better,  Jack."  He  nodded 
his  head  looking  mighty  cunning. 

"  She  cannot  be  too  wealthy  or  too  prosperous,  captain. 
I  knew  full  well  that  her  prosperity  only  increases  the  gulf 
between  us,  but  I  had  long  ago  understood  that  such  an 
heiress  was  not  for  a  mate  on  board  a  merchantman." 

"  She  is  not,  Jack,"  the  captain  replied,  gravely.  "  Al- 
ready she  is  the  richest  heiress  in  all  Norfolk — perhaps  in 
the  whole  country.  Who  is  to  marry  her  ?  There,  I  con- 
fess, I  am  at  a  loss.  I  must  find  a  husband  for  her. 
There's  the  rub.  She  may  marry  any  in  the  land  :  there  is 
none  so  high  but  he  would  desire  a  wife  so  rich  and  so 
virtuous.  Where  shall  I  look  for  a  husband  fit  for  her? 
There  are  admirals,  but  mostly  too  old  for  her :  she  ought 
to  have  a  noble  lord,  yet,  if  all  tales  be  true,  they  are  not 
fit,  most  of  them  to  marry  a  virtuous  woman.  Shall  I  give 
Molly  to  a  man  who  gambles  and  drinks  and  rakes  and 
riots  ?  No,  Jack,  no.  Not  for  twenty  coronets.  I  would 
rather  marry  her  to  an  honest  sailor  like  yourself.  Jack, 
my  lad,  find  me  a  noble  lord,  as  like  yourself  as  one  pea  is 
like  another,  and  he  shall  have  her.  He  must  be  as  proper 
a  man;  as  strong  a  man;  a  clean  liver;  moderate  in  his 
cups  .  .  .  find  him  for  me,  Jack,  and  he  shall  have 
her." 

"Well,  but,  captain,  there  are  the  gentlemen  of  Nor- 
folk." 

"  Ay.  .  .  .  There  are — as  you  say — the  gentlemen. 
I  have  considered  them,  Jack.  Molly  is  not  a  gentle- 
woman by  birth,  I  know  that  very  well :  but  her  fortune 
entitles  her  to  marry  in  a  higher  rank.  Ay  ...  there 
are  the  gentlemen.  They  are  good  fox  hunters  :  they  are 
good  at  horse  racing,  but  they  are  hard  drinkers,  Jack :  they 
are  fuddled  most  evenings  :  my  little  maid  must  not  have  a 
husband  who  is  put  to  bed  drunk  every  night." 

"  You  must  take  her  to  London,  captain,  and  let  her  be 
seen." 

"Ay — ay  ...  if  I  only  knew  where  to  go  and 
how  to  begin." 

"  She  is  young ;  there  is  no  need  for  hurry  :  you  can 
wait  awhile,  captain." 

"Ay     .     .     .     we  can  wait  a  while.     I  shall  be  loth  to  let 


THE  "SOCIETY"  OF  LYNN  37 

her  go,  God  knows Come  to-morrow,  Jack.  She  was 

always  fond  of  you  :  she  talks  about  you  :  'tis  a  loving  lit- 
tle maid  :  you  played  with  her  and  ran  about  with  her. 
She  never  forgets.  The  next  command  that  falls  in — but 
I  talk  too  fast.  Well — when  there  is  a  ship  in  her  fleet 
without  a  captain But  come,  my  lad." 

He  led  the  way,  still  talking  of  his  ward  and  her  perfec- 
tions, through  the  narrow  street  they  call  Stath  Lane  into 
the  great  market  place,  where  stands  the  Crown  Inn. 

The  room  appropriated  to  the  "Society  of  Lynn,"  which 
met  every  evening  all  the  year  round,  was  that  on  the 
ground  floor  looking  upon  the  market  place.  The  "  so- 
ciety," or  club,  which  is  never  dissolved,  consists  of  the 
notables  or  better  sort  of  the  town  :  the  vicar  of  St.  Mar- 
garet's ;  the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas ;  the  master  of  the  school — 
my  own  father :  Captain  Crowle  and  other  retired  captains  ; 
the  doctor  ;  some  of  the  more  substantial  merchants  ;  with 
the  mayor,  some  of  the  aldermen,  the  town  clerk,  and  a 
justice  of  the  peace  or  two.  This  evening  most  of  these 
gentlemen  were  already  present. 

Captain  Crowle  saluted  the  company  and  took  his  seat  at 
the  head  of  the  table.  "  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  I  wish 
you  all  a  pleasant  evening.  I  have  brought  with  me  my 
young  friend  Jack  Pentecrosse — you  all  know  Jack — the 
worthy  son  of  his  worthy  father.  He  will  take  a  glass 
with  us.  Sit  down  beside  me,  Jack." 

"  With  the  permission  of  the  society,"  I  said. 

Most  of  the  gentlemen  had  already  before  them  their 
pipes  and  their  tobacco.  Some  had  ordered  their  drink — a 
pint  of  port  for  one :  a  Brown  George  full  of  old  ale  for 
another ;  a  flask  of  Canary  for  a  third :  and  so  on.  But  the 
captain,  looking  round  the  room,  beckoned  to  the  girl  who 
waited.  "  Jenny,"  he  said,  "  nobody  calls  for  anything  to- 
night except  myself.  Gentlemen,  it  must  be  a  bowl — or  a 
half  dozen  bowls.  Tell  your  mistress,  Jenny,  a  bowl  of 
the  biggest  and  the  strongest  and  the  sweetest.  Gentle- 
men, you  will  drink  with  me  to  the  next  voyage  of  The 
Lady  of  Lynn." 

But  then  a  thing  happened — news  came — which  drove 
all  thoughts  of  The  Lady  of  Lynn  out  of  everybody's  mind. 
That  toast  was  forgotten. 


38  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

The  news  was  brought  by  the  doctor,  who  was  the  last 
to  arrive. 

It  was  an  indication  of  the  importance  of  our  town  that 
a  physician  lived  among  us.  He  was  the  only  physician  in 
this  part  of  the  country  :  he  practised  among  the  better  sort, 
among  the  noble  gentlemen  of  the  country  round  about 
Lynn  and  even  further  afield  in  the  northern  parts  of  the 
shire,  and  among  the  substantial  merchants  of  the  town. 
For  the  rest  there  were  the  apothecary,  the  barber  and  blood- 
letter,  the  bone-setter,  the  herbalist  and  the  wise  woman. 
Many  there  were  even  among  the  better  sort  who  would 
rather  consult  the  woman,  who  knew  the  powers  of  every 
herb  that  grows,  than  the  physician  who  would  write  you 
out  the  prescription  of  Mithridates  or  some  other  outlandish 
name  composed  of  sixty  or  seventy  ingredients.  However, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  learning  is  a  fine  thing  and  that  Galen 
knew  more  than  the  ancient  dames  who  sit  in  a  bower  of 
dried  herbs  and  brew  them  into  nauseous  drinks  which  pre- 
tend to  cure  all  the  diseases  to  which  mankind  is  liable. 

Doctor  Worship  was  a  person  who  habitually  carried 
himself  with  dignity.  His  black  dress,  his  white  silk  stock- 
ings, his  gold  shoe  buckles,  the  whiteness  of  his  lace  and 
linen,  his  huge  wig,  his  gold-headed  cane  with  its  pomander, 
proclaimed  his  calling,  while  the  shortness  of  his  stature 
with  the  roundness  of  his  figure,  his  double  chin,  his  thick 
lips  and  his  fat  nose  all  assisted  him  in  the  maintenance  of 
his  dignity.  His  voice  was  full  and  deep,  like  the  voice  of 
an  organ  and  he  spoke  slowly.  It  has,  I  believe,  been  re- 
marked that  dignity  is  more  easily  attained  by  a  short  fat 
man  than  by  one  of  a  greater  stature  and  thinner  person. 

At  the  very  first  appearance  of  the  doctor  this  evening  it 
was  understood  that  something  had  happened.  For  he  had 
assumed  an  increased  importance  that  was  phenomenal :  he 
had  swollen,  so  to  speak:  he  had  become  rounder  and 
fuller  in  front.  Everybody  observed  the  change :  yes — he 
was  certainly  broader  in  the  shoulders:  he  carried  him- 
self with  more  than  professional  dignity  :  his  wig  had  risen 
two  inches  in  the  foretop  and  had  descended  four  inches 
behind  his  back :  his  coat  was  not  the  plain  cloth  which  he 
wore  habitually  in  the  town  and  at  the  tavern,  but  the  black 
velvet  which  was  reserved  for  those  occasions  when  he  was 


THE  "SOCIETY"  OF  LYNN  39 

summoned  by  a  person  of  quality  or  one  of  the  county 
gentry,  and  he  carried  the  gold-headed  cane  with  the  poman- 
der box  which  also  belonged  to  those  rare  occasions. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  looking  around  the  room  slowly 
and  with  emphasis,  so  that,  taking  his  change  of  manner  and 
of  stature — for  men  so  seldom  grow  after  fifty — and  the 
emphasis  with  which  he  spoke  and  looked,  gathering  to- 
gether all  eyes,  caused  the  company  to  understand,  without 
any  possibility  of  mistake,  that  something  had  happened  of 
great  importance.  In  the  old  town  of  Lynn  Regis  it  is  not 
often  that  anything  happens.  Ships,  it  is  true,  come  and 
go ;  their  departures  and  their  arrivals  form  the  staple  of  the 
conversation :  but  an  event,  apart  from  the  ships,  a  sur- 
prise, is  rare.  Once,  ten  years  before  this  evening,  a  ru- 
mour of  the  kind  which,  as  the  journals  say,  awaits  confir- 
mation, reached  the  town,  that  the  French  had  landed  in 
force  and  were  marching  upon  London.  The  town  showed 
its  loyalty  by  a  resolution  to  die  in  the  last  ditch :  the  reso- 
lution was  passed  by  the  mayor  over  a  bowl  of  punch ;  and 
though  the  report  proved  without  foundation  the  event  re- 
mained historical :  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of  the  borough 
— the  king's  own  borough — had  passed  through  the  fire  of 
peril.  The  thing  was  remembered.  Since  that  event,  noth- 
ing had  happened  worthy  of  note.  And  now  something 
more  was  about  to  happen :  the  doctor's  face  was  full  of  im- 
portance :  he  clearly  brought  great  news. 

Great  news,  indeed ;  and  news  forerunning  a  time  un- 
heard of  in  the  chronicles  of  the  town. 

"  Gentlemen,"  the  doctor  laid  his  hat  upon  the  table  and 
his  cane  beside  it.  Then  he  took  his  chair,  adjusted  his  wig, 
put  on  his  spectacles,  and  then,  laying  his  hand  upon  the 
arms  of  the  chair  he  once  more  looked  round  the  room,  and 
all  this  in  the  most  important,  dignified,  provoking,  inter- 
esting manner  possible.  "  Gentlemen,  I  have  news  for 
you." 

As  a  rule  this  was  a  grave  and  a  serious  company :  there 
was  no  singing  :  there  was  no  laughing  :  there  was  no  mer- 
riment. They  were  the  seniors  of  the  town :  responsible 
persons ;  in  authority  and  office :  substantial,  as  regards 
their  wealth  :  full  of  dignity  and  of  responsibility.  I  have 
observed  that  the  possession  of  wealth,  much  more  than 


4o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

years,  is  apt  to  invest  a  man  with  serious  views.  There 
was  little  discourse  because  the  opinions  of  every  one  were 
perfectly  well-known  :  the  wind  :  the  weather :  the  crops  : 
the  ships  :  the  health  or  the  ailments  of  the  company,  formed 
the  chief  subjects  of  conversation.  The  placid  evenings 
quietly  and  imperceptibly  rolled  away  with  some  sense  of 
festivity — in  a  tavern  every  man  naturally  assumes  some 
show  of  cheerfulness  and  at  nine  o'clock  the  assembly  dis- 
persed. 

Captain  Crowle  made  answer,  speaking  in  the  name  of 
the  society,  "  Sir,  we  await  your  pleasure." 

"  My  news,  gentlemen,  is  of  a  startling  character.  I  will 
epitomise  or  abbreviate  it.  In  a  word,  therefore,  we  are  all 
about  to  become  rich." 

Everybody  sat  upright.  Rich  ?  all  to  become  rich  ?  My 
father,  who  was  the  master  of  the  Grammar  school,  and 
the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas,  shook  their  heads  like  Thomas 
the  Doubter. 

u  All  you  who  have  houses  or  property  in  this  town :  all 
who  are  concerned  in  the  trade  of  the  town :  all  who  direct 
the  industries  of  the  people — or  take  care  of  the  health  of 
the  residents — will  become,  I  say,  rich."  My  father  and 
the  curate  who  were  not  included  within  these  limits,  again 
shook  their  heads  expressively  but  kept  silence.  Nobody, 
of  course,  expects  the  master  of  the  Grammar  school,  or  a 
curate,  to  become  rich. 

"  We  await  your  pleasure,  sir,"  the  captain  repeated. 

"  Rich  !  you  said  that  we  were  all  to  become  rich,"  mur- 
mured the  mayor,  who  was  supposed  to  be  in  doubtful  cir- 
cumstances. "  If  that  were  true " 

"  I  proceed  to  my  narrative."  The  doctor  pulled  out  a 
pocketbook  from  which  he  extracted  a  letter.  "  I  have  re- 
ceived," he  went  on, "  a  letter  from  a  townsman — the  young 
man  named  Samuel  Semple — Samuel  Semple,"  he  repeated 
with  emphasis,  because  a  look  of  disappointment  fell  upon 
every  face. 

"  Sam  Semple,"  growled  the  captain  ;  "  once  I  broke  my 
stick  across  his  back."  He  did  not,  however,  explain  why 
he  had  done  so.  "  I  wish  I  had  broken  two.  What  has 
Sam  Semple  to  do  with  the  prosperity  of  the  town  ?  " 

"  You  shall  hear,"  said  the  doctor. 


THE  "SOCIETY"  OF  LYNN  41 

"  He  would  bring  a  book  of  profane  verse  to  church  in- 
stead of  the  Common  Prayer,"  said  the  vicar. 

"An  idle  rogue,"  said  the  mayor;  "I  sent  him  packing 
out  of  my  countinghouse." 

"A  fellow  afraid  of  the  sea,"  said  another.  "He  might 
have  become  a  supercargo  by  this  time." 

"Yet  not  without  some  tincture  of  Greek,"  said  the 
schoolmaster;  "to  do  him  justice,  he  loved  books." 

"  He  made  us  subscribe  a  guinea  each  for  his  poems," 
said  the  vicar.  "  Trash,  gentlemen,  trash !  My  copy  is 
uncut." 

"  Yet,"  observed  the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas,  "  in  some 
sort  perhaps,  a  child  of  Parnassus.  One  of  those,  so  to 
speak,  born  out  of  wedlock,  and,  I  fear  me,  of  uncertain 
parentage  among  the  Muses  and  unacknowledged  by  any. 
There  are  many  such  as  Sam  Semple  on  that  inhospitable 
hill.  Is  the  young  man  starving,  doctor  ?  Doth  he  solicit 
more  subscriptions  for  another  volume  ?  It  is  the  way  of 
the  distressed  poet." 

The  doctor  looked  from  one  to  the  other  with  patience 
and  even  resignation.  They  would  be  sorry  immediately 
that  they  had  offered  so  many  interruptions.  When  it 
seemed  as  if  every  one  had  said  what  he  wished  to  say,  the 
doctor  held  up  his  hand  and  so  commanded  silence. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    GRAND   DISCOVERY 

"MR.  SAM  SEMPLE,"  the  doctor  continued,  with  em- 
phasis on  the  prefix  to  which,  indeed,  the  poet  was  not 
entitled  in  his  native  town,  "  doth  not  ask  for  help :  he  is 
not  starving :  he  is  prosperous :  he  has  gained  the  friend- 
ship, or  the  patronage,  of  certain  persons  of  quality.  This 
is  the  reward  of  genius.  Let  us  forget  that  he  was  the  son 
of  a  customhouse  servant,  and  let  us  admit  that  he  proved 
unequal  to  the  duties — for  which  he  was  unfitted — of  a 
clerk.  He  has  now  risen — we  will  welcome  one  whose 
name  will  in  the  future  add  lustre  to  our  town." 

The  vicar  shook  his  head.  "Trash,"  he  murmured, 
"  trash." 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  I  will  proceed  to  read  the  letter." 

He  unfolded  it  and  began  with  a  sonorous  hum. 

" 4  Honoured  Sir,'  "  he  repeated  the  words.  " l  Honoured 
Sir,' — the  letter,  gentlemen,  is  addressed  to  myself — ahem  ! 
to  myself.  '  I  have  recently  heard  of  a  discovery  which 
will  probably  affect  in  a  manner  so  vital,  the  interests  of 
my  beloved  native  town,  that  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  com- 
municate the  fact  to  you  without  delay.  I  do  so  to  you 
rather  than  to  my  esteemed  patron,  the  worshipful  the 
mayor,  once  my  master,  or  to  Captain  Crowle,  or  to  any 
of  those  who  subscribed  for  my  volume  of  Miscellany 
Poems,  because  the  matter  especially  and  peculiarly  con- 
cerns yourself  as  a  physician,  and  as  the  fortunate  owner 
of  the  spring  or  well  which  is  the  subject  of  the  discovery ' 
— the  subject  of  the  discovery,  gentlemen.  My  well — 
mine."  He  went  on.  "  c  You  are  aware,  as  a  master  in 
the  science  of  medicine,  that  the  curative  properties  of 
various  spas  or  springs  in  the  country — the  names  of  Bath, 
Tunbridge  Wells,  and  Epsom  are  familiar  to  you,  so  doubt- 
less are  those  of  Hampstead  and  St.  Chad's,  nearer  Lon- 
don. It  now  appears  that  a  certain  learned  physician  hav- 

43 


THE  GRAND  DISCOVERY  43 

ing  reason  to  believe  that  similar  waters  exist,  as  yet 
unsuspected,  at  King's  Lynn,  has  procured  a  jar  of  the 
water  from  your  own  well — that  in  your  garden ' — my 
well,  gentlemen,  in  my  own  garden  ! — 4  and,  having  sub- 
jected it  to  a  rigorous  examination,  has  discovered  that  it 
contains,  to  a  much  higher  degree  than  any  other  well 
hitherto  known  to  exist  in  this  country,  qualities,  or  in- 
gredients, held  in  solution,  which  make  this  water  sover- 
eign for  the  cure  of  rheumatism,  asthma,  gout,  and  all  dis- 
orders due  to  ill  humours  or  vapours — concerning  which  I 
am  not  competent  so  much  as  to  speak  to  one  of  your 
learning  and  skill.' ' 

"  He  has,"  said  the  schoolmaster,  "  the  pen  of  a  ready 
writer.  He  balances  his  periods.  I  taught  him.  So  far, 
he  was  an  apt  pupil." 

The  doctor  resumed. 

"'This  discovery  hath  already  been  announced  in  the 
public  journals.  I  send  you  an  extract  containing  the 
news.'  I  read  this  extract,  gentlemen." 

It  was  a  slip  of  printed  paper,  cut  from  one  of  the 
diurnals  of  London. 

" 4  It  has  been  discovered  that  at  King's  Lynn  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk,  there  exists  a  deep  well  of  clear  water 
whose  properties,  hitherto  undiscovered,  form  a  sovereign 
specific  for  rheumatism  and  many  similar  disorders.  Our 
physicians  have  already  begun  to  recommend  the  place  as 
a  spa  and  it  is  understood  that  some  have  already  resolved 
upon  betaking  themselves  to  this  newly  discovered  cure. 
The  distance  from  London  is  no  greater  than  that  of  Bath. 
The  roads,  it  is  true,  are  not  so  good,  but  at  Cambridge,  it 
is  possible  for  those  who  do  not  travel  in  their  own  car- 
riages to  proceed  by  way  of  barge  or  tilt  boat  down  the 
Cam  and  the  Ouse,  a  distance  of  only  forty  miles  which  in 
the  summer  should  prove  a  pleasant  journey.' 

"  So  far  " — the  doctor  informed  us,  "  for  the  printed  in- 
telligence. I  now  proceed  to  finish  the  letter.  '  Among 
others,  my  patron,  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of 
Fylingdale,  has  been  recommended  by  his  physician  to  try 
the  newly  discovered  waters  of  Lynn  as  a  preventive  of 
gout.  He  is  a  gentleman  of  the  highest  rank,  fashion,  and 
wealth,  who  honours  me  with  his  confidence.  It  is  pos- 


44  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

sible  that  he  may  even  allow  me  to  accompany  him  on  his 
journey.  Should  he  do  so  I  shall  look  forward  to  the  hon- 
our of  paying  my  respects  to  my  former  patrons.  He  tells 
me  that  other  persons  of  distinction  are  also  going  to  the  same 
place,  with  the  same  objects,  during  the  coming  summer/ 

"  You  hear,  gentlemen,"  said  the  doctor,  looking  round, 
"  what  did  I  say  ?  Wealth  for  all — for  all.  So.  Let  me 
continue.  c  Sir,  I  would  with  the  greatest  submission  ven- 
ture to  point  out  the  importance  of  this  event  to  the  town. 
The  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  neighbourhood  should  be 
immediately  made  acquainted  with  this  great  discovery;  the 
clergy  of  Ely,  Norwich,  and  Lincoln ;  the  members  of  the 
University  of  Cambridge  :  the  gentlemen  of  Boston,  Spald- 
ing,  and  Wisbech  should  all  be  informed.  It  may  be  ex- 
pected that  there  will  be  such  a  concourse  flocking  to  Lynn 
as  will  bring  an  accession  of  wealth  as  well  as  fame  to  the 
borough  of  which  I  am  a  humble  native.  I  would  also 
submit  that  the  visitors  should  find  Lynn  provided  with 
the  amusements  necessary  for  a  spa.  I  mean  music;  the 
assembly ;  a  pump  room ;  a  garden ;  the  ball  and  the  mas- 
querade and  the  card  room ;  clean  lodgings ;  good  wine ; 
and  fish,  flesh  and  fowl  in  abundance.  I  humbly  ask  for- 
giveness for  these  suggestions  and  I  have  the  honour  to 
remain,  honoured  sir,  your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 
with  my  grateful  service  to  all  the  gentlemen  who  subscribed 
to  my  verses,  and  thereby  provided  me  with  a  ladder  up 
which  to  rise,  Samuel  Semple.' '' 

At  this  moment  the  bowl  of  punch  was  brought  in  and 
placed  before  the  captain  with  a  tray  of  glasses.  The  doc- 
tor folded  his  letter,  replaced  it  in  his  pocketbook  and  took 
off  his  spectacles. 

"  Gentlemen,  you  have  heard  my  news.  Captain  Crowle, 
may  I  request  that  you  permit  the  society  to  drink  with  me 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  spa — the  prosperity  of  the  spa — the 
spa  of  Lynn." 

"  Let  us  drink  it,"  said  the  captain,  "  to  the  newly  dis- 
covered spa.  But  this  Samuel — the  name  sticks." 

The  toast  was  received  with  the  greatest  satisfaction,  and 
then,  when  the  punch  was  buzzed  about,  there  arose  a  con- 
versation so  lively  and  so  loud  that  heads  looked  out  of 
windows  in  the  square  wondering  what  in  the  world  had 


THE  GRAND  DISCOVERY  45 

happened  with  the  society.  Not  a  quarrel,  surely.  Nay, 
there  was  no  uplifting  of  voices :  there  was  no  anger  in  the 
voices :  nor  was  it  the  sound  of  mirth  :  there  was  no  note 
of  merriment :  nor  was  it  a  drunken  loosening  of  the  tongue  : 
such  a  thing  with  this  company  was  impossible.  It  was 
simply  a  conversation  in  which  all  spoke  at  the  same  time 
over  an  event  which  interested  and  excited  all  alike.  Every- 
body contributed  something. 

"  We  must  have  a  committee  to  prepare  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  visitors." 

"We  must  put  up  a  pump  room." 

"  We  must  engage  a  dipper." 

"  We  must  make  walks  across  the  fields." 

"  There  must  be  an  assembly  with  music  and  dancing." 

"  There  must  be  a  card  room." 

"  There  must  be  a  long  room  for  those  who  wish  to  walk 
about  and  to  converse — with  an  orchestra." 

u  There  must  be  public  breakfasts  and  suppers." 

"  We  shall  want  horns  to  play  in  the  evening." 

"  We  must  have  glass  lamps  of  variegated  colours  to  hang 
among  the  trees." 

"  I  will  put  up  the  pump  room,"  said  the  doctor, "  in  my 
garden,  over  the  well." 

"We  must  look  to  our  lodgings.  The  beds  in  our  inns 
are  for  the  most  part  rough  hewn  boards  on  trestles  with  a 
flock  bed  full  of  knobs  and  sheets  that  look  like  leather. 
The  company  will  look  for  bedsteads  and  feather  beds." 

"  The  ladies  will  ask  for  curtains.  We  must  give  them 
what  they  are  accustomed  to  enjoy." 

"  We  must  learn  the  fashionable  dance." 

"  We  must  talk  like  beaux  and  dress  like  the  gentlefolk 
of  Westminster." 

The  captain  looked  on,  meanwhile,  whispering  in  my 
ear,  from  time  to  time.  "  Samuel  is  a  liar,"  he  said.  "  I 
know  him  to  be  a  liar.  Yet  why  should  he  lie  about  a 
thing  of  so  much  importance  ?  If  he  tells  the  truth,  Jack 
— I  know  not — I  misdoubt  the  fellow — yet — again — he 

may  tell  the  truth And  why  should  he  lie,  I  say  ?  Then 

— one  knows  not — among  the  company  we  may  even  find 
a  husband  for  the  girl.  As  for  taking  her  to  London — but 
we  shall  see." 


46  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

So  he  shook  his  head,  not  wholly  carried  away  like  the 
rest,  but  with  a  certain  amount  of  hope.  And  then,  wait- 
ing for  a  moment  when  the  talk  flagged  a  bit,  he  spoke. 

"  Gentlemen,  if  this  news  is  true — and  surely  Samuel 
would  not  invent  it,  then  the  old  town  is  to  have  another 
great  slice  of  luck.  We  have  our  shipping  and  our  trade  : 
these  have  made  many  of  us  rich  and  have  given  an  honest 
livelihood  to  many  more.  The  spa  should  bring  in,  as  the 
doctor  has  told  us,  wealth  by  another  channel.  I  undertake 
to  assure  you  that  we  shall  rise  to  the  occasion.  The  town 
shall  show  itself  fit  to  receive  and  to  entertain  the  highest 
company.  We  tarpaulins  are  too  old  to  learn  the  manners 
of  fashion.  But  we  have  men  of  substance  among  us  who 
will  lay  out  money  with  such  an  object :  we  have  gentlemen 
of  family  in  the  country  round :  we  have  young  fellows  of 
spirit,"  he  clapped  me  on  the  shoulder,  "  who  will  keep  up 
the  gaieties :  and,  gentlemen,  we  have  maidens  among  us — 
as  blooming  as  any  in  the  great  world.  We  shall  not  be 
ashamed  of  ourselves — or  of  our  girls." 

These  words  created  a  profound  sigh  of  satisfaction. 
The  men  of  substance  would  rise  to  the  occasion. 

Before  the  bowl  was  out  a  committee  was  appointed, 
consisting  of  Captain  Crowle,  the  vicar  of  St.  Margaret's, 
the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas — the  two  clergymen  being 
appointed  as  having  imbibed  at  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge some  tincture  of  the  fashionable  world — and  the 
doctor.  This  important  body  was  empowered  to  make 
arrangements  for  the  reception  and  for  the  accommodation 
and  entertainment  of  the  illustrious  company  expected  and 
promised.  It  was  also  empowered  to  circulate  in  the 
country  round  about  news  of  the  extraordinary  discovery 
and  to  invite  all  the  rheumatic  and  the  gouty  :  the  asthmatic 
and  everybody  afflicted  with  any  kind  of  disease  to  repair 
immediately  to  Lynn  Regis,  there  to  drink  the  sovereign 
waters  of  the  spa. 

"  It  only  remains,  gentlemen,"  said  the  doctor  in  con- 
clusion, "  that  I  myself  should  submit  the  water  of  my  well 
to  an  examination."  He  did  not  think  it  necessary  to 
inform  the  company  that  he  had  received  from  Samuel 
Semple  an  analysis  of  the  water  stating  the  ingredients  and 
their  proportions  as  made  by  the  anonymous  physician  of 


THE  GRAND  DISCOVERY  47 

London.  "  Should  it  prove — of  which  I  have  little  doubt 
— that  the  water  is  such  as  has  been  described  by  my  learned 
brother  in  medicine,  I  shall  inform  you  of  the  fact." 

It  was  a  curious  coincidence,  though  the  committee  of 
reception  were  not  informed  of  the  fact,  that  the  doctor's 
analysis  exactly  agreed  with  that  sent  to  him. 

It  was  a  memorable  evening.  For  my  own  part, — I 
know  not  why — during  the  reading  of  the  letter  my  heart 
sank  lower  and  lower.  It  was  the  foreboding  of  evil. 
Perhaps  it  was  caused  by  my  knowledge  of  Samuel  of 
whom  I  will  speak  presently.  Perhaps  it  was  the  thought 
of  seeing  the  girl  whom  I  loved,  while  yet  I  had  no  hope 
of  winning  her,  carried  off  by  some  sprig  of  quality  who 
would  teach  her  to  despise  her  homely  friends,  the  master 
mariners  young  and  old.  I  know  not  the  reason.  But  it 
was  a  foreboding  of  evil  and  it  was  with  a  heavy  heart  that 
I  repaired  to  the  quay  and  rowed  myself  back  to  the  ship  in 
the  moonlight. 

They  were  going  to  drink  to  the  next  voyage  of  The 
Lady  of  Lynn.  Why,  the  lady  herself,  not  her  ship,  was 
about  to  embark  on  a  voyage  more  perilous — more  dis- 
astrous— than  that  which  awaited  any  of  her  ships.  Cruel 
as  is  the  ocean  I  would  rather  trust  myself — and  her — to 
the  mercies  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay  at  its  wildest — than  to  the 
tenderness  of  the  crew  who  were  to  take  charge  of  that 
innocent  and  ignorant  lady. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    PORT   OF    LYNN 

THIS  was  the  beginning  of  the  famous  year.  I  say  fa- 
mous because,  to  me  and  to  certain  others,  it  was  certainly 
a  year  eventful,  while  to  the  people  of  the  town  arid  the 
county  round  it  was  the  year  of  the  spa  which  began,  ran 
a  brief  course,  and  terminated,  all  in  one  summer. 

Let  me  therefore  speak  for  a  little  about  the  place  where 
these  things  happened.  It  is  not  a  mushroom  or  upstart 
town  of  yesterday  but  on  the  other  hand  a  town  of  vener- 
able antiquity  with  many  traditions  which  may  be  read  in 
books  by  the  curious.  It  is  important  on  account  of  its 
trade  though  it  is  said  that  in  former  days  its  importance 
was  much  greater. 

I  have  sailed  over  many  seas :  I  have  put  in  at  many  ports  : 
I  have  taken  in  cargoes  of  many  countries — the  ways  of 
sailors  I  have  found  much  the  same  everywhere.  And  as 
for  the  food  and  the  drink  and  the  buildings  I  say  that  Lynn 
is  behind  none.  Certainly  the  port  of  London  whether  at 
Wapping  or  at  Limehouse  or  Shadwell  cannot  show  any- 
thing so  fine  as  the  market  place  of  Lynn  or  St.  Margaret's 
church  or  our  customhouse.  Nor  have  I  found  anywhere, 
people  more  civil  of  speech  and  more  obliging  and  well  dis- 
posed, than  in  my  own  town ;  in  which,  apart  from  the 
sailors  and  their  quarters,  the  merchants  and  shipowners 
are  substantial :  trade  is  always  brisk  :  the  port  is  always 
lively  :  continually  there  is  a  coming  and  a  going :  some- 
times, week  after  week,  one  ship  arrives  and  another  ship 
puts  out :  the  yards  are  always  busy  :  the  hammer  and  the 
anvil  resound  all  day  long :  carpenters,  rope  makers,  boat 
builders,  block  makers,  sail  makers,  all  the  people  wanted 
to  fit  out  a  ship — they  say  that  a  ship  is  like  a  woman,  in 
always  wanting  something — are  at  work  without  intermis- 
sion all  the  year  round  from  five  in  the  morning  till  eight 
in  the  evening.  They  stand  at  good  wages  :  they  live 

48 


THE  PORT  OF  LYNN  49 

well :  they  dress  warm :  they  drink  of  the  best.  It  is  a 
city  of  great  plenty.  Wine  there  is  of  the  most  generous, 
to  be  had  at  reasonable  price — have  I  not  myself  brought 
home  cargoes  from  Lisbon  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese — 
strong  and  heady — rich  and  sweet ;  and  from  Bordeaux  of 
right  claret  ?  All  the  things  that  come  from  abroad  are 
here  in  abundance,  brought  hither  by  our  ships  and  dis- 
tributed by  our  barges  up  the  river  and  its  tributaries  through 
eight  countries  at  least,  serving  the  towns  of  Peterborough, 
Ely,  Stamford,  Bedford,  St.  Ives,  Huntingdon,  St.  Neots, 
Northampton,  Cambridge,  Bury  St.  Edmund's,  and  Thet- 
ford.  We  send  them  not  only  wine  but  also  coals  (which 
come  to  us,  sea-borne,  from  Newcastle),  deal  and  timber 
from  Norway  and  the  Baltic,  iron  and  implements  ;  sugar, 
lemons,  spices,  tea  (but  there  is  little  of  that  infusion  taken 
in  the  county),  turpentine,  and  I  know  not  what :  and  we 
receive  for  export  wheat,  barley,  oats  and  grain  of  all  kinds. 

In  other  places  you  may  hear  lamentations  that  certain 
imported  luxuries  have  given  out :  the  lemons  will  fail  so 
that  the  punch  is  spoiled  :  or  the  nutmegs  give  out — which 
is  a  misfortune  for  the  pudding :  or  the  foreign  wine  has 
been  all  consumed.  Our  cellars  and  our  warehouses,  how- 
ever, are  always  full,  there  is  always  wine  of  every  kind : 
there  are  always  stores  of  everything  that  the  cook  can 
want  for  his  most  splendid  banquet. 

Nor  are  we  less  fortunate  in  our  food.  There  is  excel- 
lent mutton  fattened  in  the  Marshland :  the  bacon  of  Nor- 
folk is  famous  :  there  are  no  geese  like  the  geese  of  the 
fens — they  are  kept  in  farmhouses,  each  in  its  own  hutch, 
and  all  driven  out  to  feed  in  the  fens  and  the  ditches  of  the 
fens.  Every  day  you  may  see  the  boy  they  call  the  goz- 
zard  driving  them  out  in  the  morning  and  bringing  them 
home  in  the  evening.  Then,  since  all  the  country  on  the 
west  side  is  lowland  reclaimed  from  the  sea,  it  is,  like  all 
such  land,  full  of  ponds  and  haunted  by  starlings  and  ducks, 
widgeon,  teal  and  other  wild  birds  innumerable,  which  are 
shot,  decoyed,  and  caught  in  great  numbers.  Add  to  this 
that  the  reclaimed  land  is  most  fertile  and  yields  abun- 
dantly of  wheat  and  barley,  fruit  and  vegetables :  and  that 
fish  are  found  in  plenty  in  the  Wash  and  outside  and  you 
will  own  that  the  town  is  a  kind  of  promised  land,  where 


5o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

everything  that  the  heart  of  man  can  desire  is  plentiful  and 
cheap  and  where  the  better  sort  are  rich  and  comfortable 
and  the  baser  sort  are  in  good  case  and  contented. 

Another  circumstance,  which  certain  scholars  consider 
fortunate  for  Lynn,  is  that  the  modern  town  abounds  with 
ancient  buildings,  walls,  towers,  arches,  churches,  gateways, 
fragments  which  proclaim  its  antiquity  and  speak  of  its 
former  importance.  You  think,  perhaps,  that  a  plain  and 
simple  sea  captain  has  no  business  to  know  anything  about 
matters  which  concern  scholars.  That  is  a  reasonable  ob- 
jection. The  Lord  forbid  that  I  should  speak  as  if  I  knew 
anything  of  my  own  reading.  I  am  but  a  plain  sailor :  I 
have  spent  most  of  my  life  navigating  a  merchantman. 
This  is  an  honourable  condition.  Had  I  to  choose  an- 
other life  upon  the  world  I  would  desire  of  Providence  no 
higher  station  and  no  happier  lot.  A  sea  captain  is  king  : 
his  vessel  is  an  island  over  which  he  rules  :  he  is  a  servant 
yet  not  in  a  state  of  servitude  :  he  is  a  dependent  yet  is  in- 
dependent :  he  has  no  cares  about  money  for  he  is  well 
paid  :  he  keeps  what  hours  he  pleases  :  dresses  as  he  likes  : 
eats  and  drinks  as  he  likes  :  if  he  carries  passengers  he  has 
society.  No.  Let  me  not  even  seem  to  be  pretending  to 
the  learning  of  a  scholar.  I  do  but  repeat  the  things  which 
my  father  was  wont  to  repeat  in  my  hearing.  He  was  for 
forty  years  master  of  the  Grammar  school ;  a  master  of  arts 
of  Christ's  college,  Cambridge  :  a  learned  scholar  in  Latin, 
Greek,  Hebrew  and  Chaldee  :  and,  like  many  of  his  call- 
ing, an  antiquary  and  one  who  was  most  happy  when  he 
was  poring  over  old  manuscripts  in  the  Archives  of  the 
Guildhall,  and  amassing  materials  which  he  did  not  live  to 
put  together  for  the  history  of  Lynn  Regis,  sometime  Lynn 
Episcopi.  The  collections  made  by  him  still  lie  among  the 
chests  where  the  corporation  keep  their  papers.  They  will 
doubtless  be  found  there  at  some  future  time  and  will  serve 
for  some  other  hand  engaged  upon  the  same  work. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  among  a  trading  and  a  ship- 
ping community  there  should  be  much  curiosity  on  such 
matters  as  the  past  history  of  their  borough  :  the  charter 
which  it  obtained  from  kings ;  the  creation  of  a  mayor : 
the  destruction  of  the  monasteries  when  the  glorious  Refor- 
mation restored  the  sunlight  of  the  gospel  and  of  freedom 


THE  PORT  OF  LYNN  51 

to  this  happy  land.  For  the  most  part  my  father  worked 
without  encouragement  save  from  the  vicar  of  St.  Marga- 
ret's, the  Reverend  Mark  Gentle,  S.  T.  P.,  to  whose 
scholarly  mind  the  antiquities  and  charters  and  leases  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  were  of  small  account 
indeed  compared  with  a  newly  found  coin  of  an  obscure 
Roman  usurper,  or  an  inscription  on  a  Roman  milestone, 
or  the  discovery  of  a  Roman  urn.  Yet  my  father  would 
willingly  discourse  upon  the  subject  and,  indeed,  I  think 
that  little  by  little  he  communicated  to  me  the  whole  of  his 
knowledge,  so  that  I  became  that  rare  creature,  a  sailor 
versed  in  antiquity  and  history  :  one  to  whom  the  streets 
and  old  buildings  of  Lynn  spoke  in  a  language  unknown 
by  the  people,  even  unheard  by  them. 

It  pleases  me  to  recall  the  tall  form  of  my  father  :  his  bent 
shoulders :  his  wig  for  the  most  part  awry :  his  round 
spectacles ;  his  thin  face.  In  school  he  was  a  figure  of 
fear,  always  terrible,  wielding  the  rod  of  office  with  justice 
Rhadamanthine,  and  demanding,  with  that  unrelenting 
alternative,  things  impossible  in  grammar.  In  school  hours 
he  was  a  very  Jupiter,  a  thundering  Jupiter  :  our  school  was 
an  ancient  hall  with  an  open  timber  roof  in  which  his 
voice  rolled  and  echoed  backwards  and  forwards.  Nor  did 
he  spare  his  only  son.  In  consequence  of  some  natural 
inability  to  cope  with  the  niceties  of  syntax  I  was  often 
compelled  to  become  a  warning  and  an  admonition  to  the 
rest.  I  have  sometimes,  since  those  days,  in  considering 
things  during  the  night-watch,  asked  myself  why  men  of 
tender  hearts  force  their  children  to  undergo  this  fierce  dis- 
cipline of  grammar — a  thing  instantly  forgotten  when  a 
boy  goes  to  sea :  and  I  have  thought  that  perhaps  it  was 
invented  and  encouraged  by  divines  in  order  that  boys 
might  learn  something  of  the  terrors  of  the  law  divine. 
Out  of  school,  however,  no  child  ever  had  a  parent  more 
indulgent  or  more  affectionate.  The  post  of  schoolmaster 
is  honourable  and  one  that  should  be  desired,  yet  I  have 
sometimes  wished,  when  the  disagreeable  moments  of  swish- 
ing were  upon  me,  that  the  hand  of  the  executioner  had 
belonged  to  some  other  boy's  father — say,  the  father  of 
Sam  Semple. 

I  will  tell  you  how  he  used  to  talk.     I  remember  one 


52  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

day — it  might  be  yesterday — he  was  standing  on  the  Lady's 
Mount  and  looking  down  upon  the  gardens  and  fields 
which  now  lie  between  the  ancient  walls  and  the  modern 
town.  "Look,  boy,"  he  said,  "you  see  fields  and  gar- 
dens :  on  those  fields  stood  formerly  monasteries  and  con- 
vents :  these  gardens  were  once  enclosed — you  may  still 
discern  some  of  the  stone  walls  which  surrounded  them, 
for  monk  and  friar.  All  the  friars  were  here,  so  great  was 
the  wealth  of  the  town.  On  that  green  field  behind  the 
church  of  St.  Nicholas  was  the  house  of  the  Austin  Friars : 
some  fragments  of  these  buildings  have  I  discovered  built 
into  the  houses  on  the  west  side  of  the  field  :  I  should  like 
to  pull  down  the  modern  houses  in  order  to  display  those 
fragments :  almost  at  our  feet  lay  the  house  of  the  Black 
Friars,  yonder  to  the  south,  between  the  road  to  the  gate  and 
the  river  Var,  was  the  friary  of  the  White  Friars  or  Car- 
melites :  there  is  the  tower  of  the  Grey  Friars,  who  were 
Franciscans.  On  the  south  side  of  St.  Margaret's  there 
are  walls  and  windows,  with  carved  mullions  and  arches — 
they  belong  to  a  college  of  priests  or  perhaps  a  Benedictine 
House — there  must  have  been  Benedictines  in  the  town  ; 
or  perhaps  they  belonged  to  a  nunnery :  many  nunneries 
stood  beside  parish  churches. 

"  This  is  part  of  the  wall  of  the  town.  'Tis  a  pity  that 
it  should  fall  into  decay,  but  when  walls  are  no  longer 
wanted  for  defence  they  are  neglected.  First  the  weather 
loosens  the  stones  of  the  battlements ;  or  perhaps  they  fall 
into  the  moat :  or  the  people  take  them  away  for  building. 
I  wonder  how  much  of  the  wall  of  Lynn  is  built  into  the 
churches  and  the  houses  and  the  garden  walls ;  then  the 
whole  face  of  the  wall  disappears ;  then  if  it  is  a  Roman 
wall  there  is  left  a  core  of  concrete  as  in  London  wall 
which  I  have  seen  here  and  there  where  the  houses  are  not 
built  against  it.  And  here  is  a  point  which  I  cannot  get 
over.  The  wall  of  Lynn  is  two  miles  long  :  that  of  Lon- 
don is  three  miles  long,  as  I  am  credibly  informed  by  Stow 
and  others.  Was  then,  the  town  of  Lynn  at  any  time 
able  to  raise  and  to  defend  a  wall  two  miles  in  length  ?  It 
seems  incredible.  Yet  why  build  a  wall  longer  than  could 
be  defended  ?  Were  these  fields  and  gardens  once  streets 
between  the  religious  houses  ?  Certain  it  is  that  Lynn 


THE  PORT  OF  LYNN  53 

Episcopi,  as  it  was  then  called,  was  formerly  a  very  busy 
place  yet,  I  apprehend,  more  busy  than  at  present  in  pro- 
portion only  to  the  increased  wealth  and  population  of  the 
country." 

So  he  would  talk  to  me,  I  suppose,  because  he  could 
never  find  anybody  else  who  would  listen  to  him.  Those 
who  read  this  page  will  very  likely  resemble  the  company 
to  whom  my  father  ventured  upon  such  discourse  of  ancient 
things.  They  would  incline  their  heads  ;  they  would  take 
a  drink :  they  would  sigh  :  they  would  say,  "  Why,  sir, 
since  you  say  so,  doubtless  it  is  so.  No  one  is  likely  to 
dispute  the  point,  but  if  you  think  upon  it  the  time  is  long 
ago  and  ...  I  think,  neighbours,  the  wind  has 
shifted  a  point  to  the  nor'east." 

The  town  preserves,  in  spite  of  neglect  and  oblivion, 
more  of  the  appearance  of  the  age  than  most  towns.  The 
Guildhall,  where  they  show  the  sword  and  the  silver  cup 
of  King  John,  is  an  ancient  and  noteworthy  building : 
there  are  the  old  churches :  there  are  almshouse  and  hos- 
pitals :  there  is  a  customhouse  which  the  Hollanders 
enviously  declare  must  have  been  brought  over  from  their 
country  and  set  up  here,  so  much  does  it  resemble  their 
own  buildings.  Our  streets  are  full  of  remains :  here  a 
carving  in  marble  :  here  a  window  of  ancient  shape,  cut  in 
stone  :  here  a  piece  of  carved  work  from  some  ancient 
chantry  chapel :  here  a  deserted  and  mouldering  court : 
here  a  house  overhanging,  gabled,  with  carved  front :  here 
a  courtyard  with  an  ancient  house  built  round  it ;  and  with 
the  narrow  streets  such  as  one  finds  only  in  the  most  an- 
cient parts  of  our  ancient  cities.  We  have  still  our  wind- 
ing lanes  with  their  irregularities :  houses  planted  sideways 
as  well  as  fronting  the  street :  an  irregular  alignment : 
gables  instead  of  a  flat  coping  :  casement  windows  not  yet 
transformed  by  the  modern  sash  :  our  old  taverns ;  our  old 
walls ;  our  old  market  places ;  and  the  ancient  bridges 
which  span  the  four  streams  running  through  the  midst  of 
our  town.  By  the  riverside  you  may  find  the  sailors  and 
the  craftsmen  who  belong  to  a  seaport :  at  the  custom- 
house you  may  meet  the  merchants  and  the  shippers :  in 
the  market  places  you  may  find  the  countrymen  and  coun- 
trywomen— they  talk  an  uncouth  language  and  their  man- 


54  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

ners  are  rough,  but  they  are  honest :  and  if  you  go  to  the 
church  of  St.  Margaret's  or  St.  Nicholas  any  day  for  morn- 
ing prayers  but  especially  on  Sunday  you  may  find  among 
the  congregation  maidens  and  matrons  in  rich  attire,  the 
former  as  beautiful  as  in  any  town  or  country  may  be  met ; 
the  latter  stately  and  dignified  and  gracious  withal. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    MAID    OF    LYNN 

MY  earliest  recollection  as  a  child  shows  me  Captain 
Crowle,  full-wigged,  with  a  white  silk  cravat  round  his  neck, 
the  lace  ends  hanging  down  before,  a  crimson  silk  sash  to 
his  sword,  long  lace  ruffles,  his  brown  coat  with  silver  but- 
tons, his  worsted  hose,  and  his  shoes  with  silver  clocks. 
In  my  memory  he  is  always  carrying  his  hat  under  his  arm ; 
a  stout  stick  always  dangled  from  his  wrist,  in  readiness ; 
and  he  always  presents  the  same  honest  face,  weather-beaten, 
ruddy,  lined,  with  his  keen  eyes  under  thick  eyebrows  and 
his  nose  long  and  broad  and  somewhat  arched — such  a  nose 
as  lends  authority  to  a  man.  In  other  words,  I  never  saw 
any  change  in  the  captain,  though,  when  I  first  remember 
him  he  must  have  been  fifty-five,  and  when  he  ceased  to  be 
seen  in  his  old  haunts  he  was  close  upon  eighty. 

I  have  seen,  however,  and  I  remember,  many  changes  in 
the  captain's  ward.  She  is  a  little  thing  of  two  or  three  at 
first ;  then  she  is  a  merry  child  of  six  ;  next  she  is  a  school- 
girl of  ten  or  eleven ;  she  grows  into  a  maiden  of  sixteen, 
neither  girl  nor  woman  ;  she  becomes  a  woman  of  eighteen. 
I  remember  her  in  every  stage.  Strange  to  say  I  do  not 
remember  her  between  those  stages. 

Molly  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  her  father  in  infancy. 
He  was  carried  off,  I  believe,  by  smallpox.  He  was  a  ship 
owner,  and  general  merchant  of  the  town,  and  was  generally 
reputed  to  be  a  man  of  considerable  means.  At  his  death 
he  bequeathed  the  care  of  his  widow  and  his  child  to  his  old 
servant,  Captain  John  Crowle,  who  had  been  in  the  service 
of  the  house  since  he  was  apprenticed  as  a  boy.  He 
directed,  further,  that  Captain  Crowle  should  conduct  the 
business  for  the  child,  who  by  his  will  was  to  inherit  the 
whole  of  his  fortune  whatever  that  might  prove  to  be,  on 
coming  of  age,  after  subtracting  certain  settlements  for  his 
widow. 

55 


56  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

It  was  most  fortunate  for  the  child  that  her  guardian  was 
the  most  honest  person  in  the  world.  He  was  a  bachelor; 
he  was  bound  by  ties  of  gratitude  to  the  house  which  he  had 
served  ;  he  had  nothing  to  do  and  nothing  to  think  about 
except  the  welfare  of  the  child. 

I  would  have  no  secrets  with  my  reader.  Let  it  be 
known,  therefore,  that  on  looking  into  the  position  of  affairs, 
the  executor  found  that  there  was  a  much  greater  fortune 
for  his  ward  than  any  one,  even  the  widow,  ever  guessed. 
There  were  houses  in  the  town  ;  there  were  farms  in  Marsh- 
land ;  there  were  monies  placed  out  on  mortgage ;  there 
were  three  or  four  tall  ships,  chiefly  in  the.  Lisbon  trade ; 
and  there  were  boxes  full  of  jewels,  gold  chains,  and  trin- 
kets, the  accumulation  of  three  or  four  generations  of  sub- 
stantial trade.  He  kept  this  knowledge  to  himself:  then, 
as  the  expenses  of  the  household  were  small  and  there  was 
always  a  large  balance  after  the  year  in  favour  of  the  house, 
he  went  on  adding  ship  to  ship,  house  to  house,  and  farm  to 
farm,  besides  putting  out  monies  on  the  security  of  mort- 
gage, so  that  the  child,  no  one  suspecting,  grew  richer  and 
richer,  until  by  the  time  she  was  eighteen,  if  the  captain 
only  knew  it,  she  became  the  richest  heiress  not  only  in  the 
town  of  Lynn,  but  also  in  the  whole  county  of  Norfolk  and 
even,  I  verily  believe,  in  the  whole  country. 

I  think  that  the  captain  must  have  been  what  is  called  a 
good  man  of  business  by  nature.  A  simple  sailor,  one 
taught  to  navigate ;  to  take  observations ;  to  keep  a  log 
and  to  understand  a  chart,  is  not  supposed  to  be  thereby 
trained  for  trade.  But  it  must  have  been  a  far-seeing  man 
who  boldly  launched  out  into  new  branches,  and  sent 
whalers  to  the  Arctic  seas ;  ships  to  trade  in  the  Baltic;  and 
ships  into  the  Mediterranean,  as  well  as  ships  in  the  old 
trade  for  which  Lynn  was  always  famous,  that  with  Lisbon 
for  wine.  He  it  was  who  enlarged  the  quay  and  rebuilt 
the  Common  Stath  Yard  :  his  countinghouse — it  was  called 
his  and  he  was  supposed  to  be  at  least  a  partner — was  filled 
with  clerks,  and  it  was  counted  good  fortune  by  the  young 
men  of  the  place  to  enter  his  service  whether  as  prentices 
on  board  his  ships,  or  as  bookkeepers  in  his  countinghouse, 
or  as  supercargoes  or  pursers  in  his  fleet.  For  my  own 
part  it  was  always  understood  between  us  that  I  too  was  to 


THE  MAID  OF  LYNN  57 

enter  his  service,  but  as  a  sailor,  not  as  a  clerk.  This  I  told 
him  as  a  little  boy,  with  the  impudence  of  childhood : 
he  laughed;  but  he  remembered  and  reminded  me  from 
time  to  time.  "  Jack  is  to  be  a  sailor — Jack  will  have  none 
of  your  quill  driving — Jack  means  to  walk  his  own  quarter- 
deck. I  shall  live  to  give  Jack  his  sword  and  his  telescope  " 
.  and  so  on,  lest  perchance  I  should  forget  and  fall 
off  and  even  accept  the  vicar's  offer  to  get  me  a  scholarship 
at  some  college  of  Cambridge,  so  that  I  might  take  a  degree, 
and  become  my  father's  usher  and  presently  succeed  him  as 
master  of  the  Grammar  school.  "  Learning,"  said  the  cap- 
tain, "  is  a  fine  thing,  but  the  command  of  a  ship  is  a  finer. 
Likewise  it  is  doubtless  a  great  honour  to  be  a  master  of  arts, 
such  as  your  father,  but,  my  lad,  a  rope's  end  is,  to  my 
mind,  a  better  weapon  than  a  birch."  And  so  on.  For 
while  he  knew  how  to  respect  the  learning  of  a  scholar,  as 
he  respected  the  piety  of  the  vicar,  he  considered  the  calling 
of  the  sailor  more  delightful  than  that  of  the  schoolmaster, 
even  though  not  so  highly  esteemed  by  the  world. 

There  were  plenty  of  children  in  the  town  of  Lynn  to 
play  with :  but  it  came  about  in  some  way  or  other,  per- 
haps because  I  was  always  a  favourite  with  the  captain,  and 
was  encouraged  to  go  often  to  the  house,  that  Molly  be- 
came my  special  playfellow.  She  was  two  years  younger 
than  myself,  but  being  forward  in  growth  and  strength  the 
difference  was  not  a  hindrance,  while  there  was  no  game  or 
amusement  pleasing  to  me  which  did  not  please  her.  For 
instance,  every  boy  of  Lynn,  as  soon  as  he  can  handle  a 
scull,  can  manage  a  dingy  ;  and  as  soon  as  he  can  haul  a 
rope,  can  sail  a  boat.  For  my  own  part  I  can  never  re- 
member the  time  when  I  was  not  in  my  spare  time  out  on 
the  river.  I  would  sail  up  the  river,  along  the  low  banks 
of  the  sluggish  stream  up  and  down  which  go  the  barges 
which  carry  the  cargoes  of  our  ships  to  the  inland  towns 
and  return  for  more.  There  are  also  tilt  boats  coming 
down  the  river  which  are  like  the  waggons  on  the  road,  full 
of  passengers,  sailors,  servants,  soldiers,  craftsmen,  appren- 
tices and  the  like.  Or  I  would  row  down  the  river  with 
the  current  and  the  tide  as  far  as  the  mouth  where  the  river 
flows  into  the  Wash.  Then  I  would  sail  up  again  watch- 
ing the  ships  tacking  across  the  stream  in  their  slow  upward 


58  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

progress  to  the  port.  Or  I  would  go  fishing  and  bring 
home  a  basket  full  of  fresh  fish  for  the  house :  or  I  would 
paddle  about  in  a  dingy  among  the  ships,  watching  them 
take  in  and  discharge  cargo  :  or  receive  from  the  barges 
alongside  the  casks  of  pork  and  beef;  of  rum  and  beer  and 
water,  for  the  next  voyage  :  happy  indeed,  if  I  could  get 
permission  to  tie  up  the  painter  to  the  rope  ladder  hanging 
over  the  side  and  so  climb  up  and  ramble  over  every  part  of 
the  ship.  And  I  knew  every  ship  that  belonged  to  the 
port :  every  Dutchman  which  put  in  with  cheese  and  tal- 
low, hardware  and  soft  goods;  every  Norwegian  that 
brought  deal :  I  knew  them  all  and  when  they  were  due  and 
their  tonnage  and  the  name  of  the  captain. 

More  than  this,  Molly  knew  as  much  as  I  did.  She  was 
as  handy  with  her  sculls ;  she  knew  every  puff  of  wind  and 
where  to  expect  it  at  the  bend  of  the  river;  she  was  as 
handy  with  the  sails.  While  her  mother  made  her  a  notable 
housewife  and  taught  her  to  make  bread,  cakes,  puddings 
and  pies;  to  keep  the  still-room;  to  sew  and  make  and 
mend ;  to  brew  the  ale,  both  the  strong  and  the  small ;  and 
the  punch  for  the  captain's  friends  at  Christmas  and  other 
festivals — while,  I  say,  this  part  of  Molly's  education  was 
not  neglected,  it  was  I  who  made  her  a  sailor,  so  that  there 
was  nowhere  in  the  place  any  one,  man  or  boy  or  girl,  who 
was  handier  with  a  boat  or  more  certain  with  a  sail  than 
Molly.  And  I  know  not  which  of  these  two  accomplish- 
ments pleased  her  guardian  the  more.  That  she  should  be- 
come a  good  housewife  was  necessary :  that  she  should  be 
a  handy  sailor  was  an  accomplishment  which,  because  it 
was  rare  in  a  girl,  and  belonged  to  the  work  of  the  other 
sex,  seemed  to  him  a  proper  and  laudable  object  of  pride. 

The  captain,  as  you  have  already  learned,  nourished  a 
secret  ambition.  When  I  was  still  little  more  than  a  boy,  he 
entrusted  his  secret  to  me.  Molly's  mother,  the  good 
homely  body  who  was  so  notable  a  housekeeper,  and  knew 
nothing,  as  she  desired  to  know  nothing  concerning  the 
manners  and  customs  of  gentlefolk,  was  not  consulted. 
Nor  did  the  good  woman  even  know  how  great  an  heiress 
her  daughter  had  become.  Now,  the  captain's  ambition 
was  to  make  his  ward,  by  means  of  her  fortune,  a  great 
lady.  He  knew  little — poor  man  ! — of  what  was  meant  by 


THE  MAID  OF  LYNN  59 

a  great  lady,  but  he  wanted  the  heiress  of  such  great  wealth 
to  marry  some  man  who  would  lift  her  out  of  the  rank  and 
condition  to  which  she  was  born.  It  was  a  fatal  ambition, 
as  you  shall  learn.  Now,  being  wise  after  the  event  and 
quite  able  to  lock  the  door  after  the  horse  has  been  stolen  I 
can  understand  that  with  such  an  ambition  the  captain's 
only  plan  was  to  have  taken  the  girl  away ;  perhaps  to  Nor- 
wich, perhaps  to  London  itself;  to  have  placed  her  under 
the  care  of  some  respectable  gentlewoman ;  to  have  had 
her  taught  all  the  fashionable  fal-lals,  with  the  graces  and 
the  sprawls  and  the  antics  of  the  fashionable  world  ;  to  let  it 
be  buzzed  abroad  that  she  was  an  heiress,  and  then,  after 
taking  care  to  protect  her  against  adventurers,  to  find  a  man 
after  his  own  mind,  of  station  high  enough  to  make  the 
girl's  fortune  equal  to  his  own ;  not  to  overshadow  it :  and 
not  to  dazzle  him  with  possibilities  of  spending.  How- 
ever, it  is  easy  to  understand  what  might  have  been  done. 

What  was  done,  you  understand.  At  nineteen,  Molly 
was  a  fine  tall  girl,  as  strong  as  any  man,  her  arms  stout 
and  muscular  like  mine;  her  face  rosy  and  ruddy  with  the 
bloom  of  health ;  her  eyes  blue  and  neither  too  large  nor 
too  small  but  fearless ;  her  head  and  face  large ;  her  hair 
fair  and  blowing  about  her  head  with  loose  curls ;  her 
figure  full;  her  neck  as  white  as  snow;  her  hands  large 
rather  than  small,  by  reason  of  the  rowing  and  the  handling 
of  the  ropes,  and  by  no  means  white ;  her  features  were 
regular  and  straight ;  her  mouth  not  too  small  but  to  my 
eyes  the  most  beautiful  mouth  in  the  world,  the  lips  full, 
and  always  ready  for  a  smile,  the  teeth  white  and  regular. 
In  a  word,  to  look  at  as  fine  a  woman,  not  of  the  delicate 
and  dainty  kind,  but  strong,  tall,  and  full  of  figure,  as  one 
may  wish  for.  As  to  her  disposition  she  was  the  most 
tender,  affectionate,  sweet  soul  that  could  be  imagined ;  she 
was  always  thinking  of  something  to  please  those  who 
loved  her;  she  spared  her  mother  and  worked  for  her 
guardian  ;  she  was  always  working  at  something  ;  she  was 
always  happy ;  she  was  always  singing.  And  never,  until 
the  captain  told  her,  did  she  have  the  least  suspicion  that 
she  was  richer  than  all  her  friends  and  neighbours — nay — 
than  the  whole  town  of  Lynn  with  its  merchants  and 
shippers  and  traders,  all  together. 


60  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

You  think  that  I  speak  as  a  lover.  It  is  true  that  I  have 
always  loved  Molly  :  there  has  never  been  any  other  woman 
in  the  world  for  whom  I  have  ever  felt  the  least  inclination 
or  affection.  She  possessed  my  whole  soul  as  a  child  ;  she 
has  it  still — my  soul — my  heart — my  whole  desire — my 
all.  I  will  say  no  more  in  her  praise,  lest  I  be  thought  to 
exaggerate. 

Let  me  return  for  a  moment  to  our  childhood.  We  ran 
about  together :  we  first  played  in  the  garden  :  we  then 
played  in  the  fields  below  the  wall:  we  climbed  over  what 
is  left  of  the  wall :  from  the  top  of  the  Grey  Friars' 
Tower;  from  the  chapel  on  the  Lady's  Mount;  we  would 
look  out  upon  the  broad  expanse  of  meadows  which  were 
once  covered  over  at  every  high  tide :  there  were  stories 
which  were  told  by  old  people  of  broken  dams  and  of 
floods  and  inundations :  children's  imagination  is  so  strong 
that  they  can  picture  anything.  I  would  pretend  that  the 
flood  was  out  again ;  that  my  companion  was  carried  away 
in  a  hencoop  and  that  I  was  swimming  to  her  assistance. 
Oh  !  we  had  plays  and  pretences  enough.  If  we  went  up 
the  river  there  was  beyond — what  we  could  never  reach — 
a  castle  with  a  giant  who  carried  off  girls  and  devoured 
them ;  he  carried  off  my  companion.  Heavens  !  How  I 
rushed  to  the  rescue  and  with  nothing  but  the  boathook  en- 
countered and  slaughtered  him.  Or  if  we  went  down  the 
river  as  far  as  the  mouth  where  it  falls  into  the  Ouse,  we 
would  remember  the  pirates  and  how  they  seized  on  girls 
and  took  them  off  to  their  caves  to  work  for  them.  How 
many  pirates  did  I  slay  in  defence  and  rescue  of  one  girl 
whom  they  dared  to  carry  off! 

Or  we  rambled  about  the  town,  lingering  on  the  quays, 
watching  the  ships  and  the  sailors  and  the  workmen,  and 
sometimes  in  summer  evenings  when  from  some  tavern 
with  its  red  curtain  across  the  window  came  the  scraping 
of  a  fiddle,  and  the  voices  of  those  who  sang,  and  the 
stamping  of  those  who  danced,  we  would  look  in  at  the 
open  door  and  watch  the  sailors  within  who  looked  so 
happy.  Nobody  can  ever  be  so  happy  as  sailors  ashore  ap- 
pear to  be  :  it  is  only  the  joy  of  a  moment,  but  when  one 
remembers  it,  one  imagines  that  it  was  the  joy  of  a  life- 
time. You  think  that  it  was  a  bad  thing  for  children  to 


THE  MAID  OF  LYNN  61 

look  on  at  sailors  and  to  listen  to  their  conversation  if  one 
may  use  the  word  of  such  talk  as  goes  on  among  the  class. 
You  are  wrong.  These  things  do  not  hurt  children,  be- 
cause they  do  not  understand.  Half  the  dangers  in  the 
world,  I  take  it,  come  from  knowledge :  only  the  other 
half  from  ignorance.  Everybody  knows  the  ways  and  the 
life  of  Jack  ashore.  Children,  however,  see  only  the  out- 
side of  things.  The  fiddler  in  the  corner  puts  his  elbow 
into  the  tune ;  the  men  get  up  and  dance  the  hornpipe ; 
the  girls  dance  to  the  men,  setting  and  jetting  and  turning 
round  and  round  and  all  with  so  much  mirth  and  good  na- 
ture and  so  much  kindness  and  so  much  singing  and  laugh- 
ing, that  there  can  be  no  more  delightful  entertainment  for 
children  than  to  look  on  at  a  sailors'  merrymaking  behind 
the  red  curtain  of  the  tavern  window. 

I  recall  one  day.  It  was  in  the  month  of  December,  in 
the  afternoon  and  close  upon  sunset.  The  little  maid  was 
about  eight  and  I  was  ten.  We  were  together  as  usual ; 
we  had  been  on  the  river,  but  it  was  cold  and  so  we  came 
ashore  and  were  walking  hand  in  hand  along  the  street  they 
call  Pudding  Lane  which  leads  from  the  Common  Stath 
Yard  to  the  market-place.  In  this  lane  there  stands  a 
sailors'  tippling  house,  which  is,  I  dare  say,  in  all  respects, 
such  a  house  as  sailors  desire,  provided  and  furnished  ac- 
cording to  their  wants  and  wishes.  As  we  passed,  the  place 
being  already  lit  up  with  two  or  three  candles  in  sconces, 
the  door  being  wide  open,  and  the  mingled  noise  of  fiddle, 
voices,  and  feet  announcing  the  assemblage  of  company, 
Molly  pulled  me  by  the  hand  and  stopped  to  look  in.  The 
scene  was  what  I  have  already  indicated.  The  revelry  of 
the  evening  had  set  in  :  everybody  was  drinking :  one  was 
dancing  :  the  fiddler  was  playing  lustily. 

We  should  have  looked  on  for  a  minute  and  left  them. 
But  one  of  the  sailors  recognised  Molly.  Springing  to  his 
feet,  he  made  a  respectful  leg  and  saluted  the  child. 
"  Mates,"  he  cried,  "  'tis  our  owner  !  The  little  lady  owns 
the  barky.  What  shall  we  do  for  her  ?  " 

Then  they  all  sprang  to  their  feet  with  a  huzza  for  the 
owner,  and  another  for  the  ship — and,  if  you  will  believe 
it,  their  rough  fo'c'sle  hands  in  half  a  minute  had  the  child 
on  the  table  in  a  chair  like  a  queen.  She  sat  with  great 


62  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

dignity,  understanding  in  some  way  that  these  men  were 
in  her  own  service,  and  that  they  designed  no  harm  or 
affright  to  her  but  only  to  do  her  honour.  Therefore  she 
was  not  in  any  fear  and  smiled  graciously ;  for  my  own 
part  I  followed  and  stood  at  the  table  thinking  that  perhaps 
these  fellows  were  proposing  some  piratical  abduction  and 
resolving  miracles  of  valour,  if  necessary. 

Then  they  made  offerings.  One  man  pulled  a  red  silk 
handkerchief  from  his  neck  and  laid  it  in  her  lap ;  and  an- 
other lugged  a  box  of  sweetmeats  from  his  pocket :  it  came 
from  Lisbon  but  was  made,  I  believe,  in  Morocco  by  the 
Moors.  A  third  had  a  gold  ring  on  his  finger — everybody 
knows  the  extravagancies  of  sailors — which  he  drew  off 
and  placed  in  her  hand.  Another  offered  a  glass  of  punch. 
The  little  maid  did  what  she  had  so  often  seen  the  captain 
do.  She  looked  round  and  said,  "  Your  good  health,  all 
the  company,"  and  put  her  lips  to  the  glass  which  she  then 
returned.  And  another  offered  to  dance  and  the  fiddler 
drew  his  bow  across  the  catgut — it  is  a  sound  which  in- 
clines the  heart  to  beat  and  the  feet  to  move  whenever  a 
sailor  hears  it. 

"  I  have  often  seen  you  dance,"  said  Molly  ;  "  let  the 
fiddler  play  and  you  shall  see  me  dance." 

I  never  thought  she  would  have  had  so  much  spirit. 
For,  you  see,  I  had  taught  her  to  dance  the  hornpipe  : 
every  boy  in  a  seaport  town  can  dance  the  hornpipe  :  we 
used  to  make  music  out  of  a  piece  of  thin  paper  laid  over 
a  tortoise-shell  comb — it  must  be  a  comb  of  wide  teeth  and 
none  of  them  must  be  broken — and  with  this  instead  of  a 
fiddle  we  would  dance  in  the  garden  or  in  the  parlour. 
But  to  stand  up  before  a  whole  company  of  sailors — who 
would  have  thought  it  ?  However,  she  jumped  up  and  on 
the  table  performed  her  dance  with  great  seriousness  and 
so  gracefully  that  they  were  all  enchanted :  they  stood 
around,  their  mouths  open,  a  broad  grin  on  every  face : 
the  women,  neglected,  huddled  together  in  a  corner  and 
were  quite  silent. 

When  she  had  finished,  she  gathered  up  her  gifts — the 
silk  handkerchief — it  came  from  Calicut,  the  sweetmeats 
from  Morocco,  the  gold  ring  from  I  know  not  where. 
"  Put  me  down,  if  you  please,"  she  said.  So  one  of  them 


THE  MAID  OF  LYNN  63 

gently  lifted  her  to  the  ground.  "  I  thank  you  all,"  she 
curtseyed  very  prettily.  "  I  wish  you  good-night,  and  when 
you  set  sail  again,  a  good  voyage." 

So  she  took  my  hand  and  we  ran  away. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  I  went  to  sea.  Then  for  ten 
years  I  sailed  out  and  home  again  ;  sometimes  to  the  Baltic; 
sometimes  to  Bordeaux ;  sometimes  to  Lisbon.  After  every 
voyage  I  found  my  former  companion  grown,  yet  always 
more  lovely  and  more  charming :  the  time  came  when  we 
no  longer  kissed  at  parting ;  when  we  were  no  longer 
brother  and  sister ;  when,  alas !  we  could  not  be  lovers, 
because  between  us  lay  that  great  fortune  of  hers,  which  it 
would  be  improper  to  bestow  upon  the  mate  of  a  merchant- 
man. 

Said  my  father  to  me  once  by  way  of  warning,  "Jack, 
build  not  hopes  that  will  be  disappointed.  This  maiden  is 
not  for  thee,  but  for  thy  betters.  If  she  were  poor — but 
she  is  rich — too  rich,  I  fear  me,  for  her  happiness.  Let  us 
still  say  in  the  words  of  Agur,  4  Give  me  neither  poverty 
nor  riches.'  Thou  art  as  yet  young  for  thoughts  of  love. 
When  the  time  comes,  my  son,  cast  your  eyes  among 
humbler  maidens  and  find  virtues  and  charms  in  one  of 
them.  But  think  no  more — I  say  it  for  thy  peace — think 
no  more  of  Molly.  Her  great  riches  are  like  a  high  wall 
built  round  her  to  keep  thee  off,  Jack,  and  others  like  unto 
thee." 

They  were  wise  words,  but  a  young  man's  thoughts  are 
wilful.  There  was  no  other  maiden  in  whom  I  saw  either 
virtues  or  charms  because  Molly  among  them  all  was  like 
the  silver  moon  among  the  glittering  stars. 

You  have  heard  of  the  great  and  unexpected  discovery, 
how  the  town  found  itself  the  possessor  of  a  spa — and  such 
a  spa ! — compared  with  which  the  waters  of  Tunbridge 
were  feeble  and  those  of  Epsom  not  worth  considering. 
That  was  in  the  year  1750,  when  Molly  was  already  nine- 
teen years  of  age  and  no  longer  a  little  maid,  but  a  woman 
grown,  as  yet  without  wooers,  because  no  one  so  far  had 
been  found  fit,  in  the  captain's  eyes,  for  the  hand  and  the 
purse  of  his  lovely  ward. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    POET 

You  have  heard  the  opinions  of  the  "Society"  as  to  Sam 
Semple.  You  have  also  witnessed  the  humiliation  and  the 
basting  of  that  young  man.  Let  me  tell  you  more  about 
him  before  we  go  on  to  relate  the  progress  of  the  con- 
spiracy of  which  he  was  the  inventor  and  the  spring. 

He  was  the  son  of  one  John  Semple  who  was  employed 
at  the  customhouse.  The  boy  could  look  forward,  like 
most  of  us,  to  a  life  of  service.  He  might  go  to  sea,  and 
so  become  in  due  course,  prentice,  mate,  and  skipper;  or 
he  might  be  sent  on  board  as  supercargo;  or  he  might 
enter  the  countinghouse  of  a  merchant  and  keep  the  books; 
or  he  might  follow  his  father  and  become  a  servant  of  the 
customhouse. 

He  was  two  years  older  than  myself  and  therefore,  so 
much  above  me  at  school.  Of  all  the  boys  (which  alone 
indicates  something  contemptible  in  his  nature)  he  was  the 
most  disliked,  not  by  one  or  two,  but  by  the  whole  school ; 
not  only  by  the  industrious  and  the  well-behaved,  but  also  by 
the  lazy  and  the  vicious. 

There  is  always  in  every  school,  one  boy  at  least,  who 
is  the  general  object  of  dislike :  he  makes  no  friends :  his 
society  is  shunned:  he  may  be  feared,  but  he  is  hated. 
There  are,  I  dare  say,  many  causes  for  unpopularity :  one 
boy  is  perhaps  a  bully  who  delights  to  ill-treat  the  younger 
and  the  weaker;  one  is  a  braggart:  one  plays  games  un- 
fairly :  one  is  apt  to  offend  that  nice  sense  of  honour  and 
loyalty  which  is  cultivated  by  schoolboys  :  another  is  treach- 
erous to  his  comrades ;  he  tells  tales,  backbites  and  makes 
mischief:  perhaps  he  belongs  to  an  inferior  station  and  has 
bad  manners :  perhaps  he  takes  mean  advantages :  perhaps 
he  is  a  coward  who  will  not  fight :  perhaps  he  cannot  do 
the  things  which  boys  respect. 

Sam  Semple  was  disliked  for  many  of  these  reasons.  He 

64 


THE  POET  65 

was  known  to  be  a  telltale ;  he  was  commonly  reported  to 
convey  things  overheard  to  the  usher,  by  means  of  which 
that  officer  was  enabled  to  discover  many  little  plots  and 
plans  and  so  bring  their  authors  to  pain  and  confusion. 
He  was  certainly  a  coward  who  would  never  fight  it  out, 
but  after  a  grand  pretence  and  flourish  would  run  away  at 
the  first  blow.  But  if  he  would  not  fight  he  would  bear 
malice  and  would  take  mean  revenges;  he  was  a  most 
notorious  liar,  insomuch  that  no  one  would  believe  any 
statement  made  by  him,  if  it  could  be  proved  to  be  con- 
nected with  his  own  advantage ;  he  could  not  play  any 
games  and  affected  to  despise  the  good  old  sports  of  cock- 
ing, baiting  the  bear,  drawing  the  badger,  playing  at  cricket, 
hockey,  wrestling,  racing,  and  the  other  things  that  make 
boys  skilful,  courageous  and  hardy.  He  was,  in  a  word,  a 
poor  soft,  cowardly  creature,  more  like  a  girl — and  an  in- 
ferior kind  of  girl — than  an  honest  lad. 

He  was  much  addicted  to  reading :  he  would,  by  choice, 
sit  in  a  corner  reading  any  book  that  he  could  get  more 
willingly  than  run,  jump,  row,  or  race.  When  we  had 
holidays  he  would  go  away  by  himself,  sometimes  on  the 
walls,  if  it  were  summer,  or  in  some  sheltered  nook,  if  it 
were  winter,  contented  to  be  left  alone  with  his  printed 
page.  He  borrowed  books  from  my  father  who  encour- 
aged him  in  reading,  while  he  admonished  him  on  account 
of  his  faults,  and  from  the  vicar,  who  lent  him  books,  while 
he  warned  him  against  the  reports  of  his  character  which 
were  noised  abroad.  Now — I  know  not  how — the  boy 
became  secretly  inflamed  with  the  ambition  of  becoming  a 
poet.  How  he  fell  into  this  pitfall,  which  ended  in  his 
ruin,  I  know  not.  Certainly  it  was  not  from  any  boys  in 
the  school,  or  from  any  friend  in  the  town,  because  there 
are  no  books  of  poetry  in  Lynn,  save  those  which  belong 
to  the  parson  and  the  schoolmaster.  However,  he  did 
conceive  the  ambition  of  becoming  a  poet — secretly,  at 
first,  because  he  was  naturally  ashamed  of  being  such  a  fool, 
but  it  came  out.  He  read  poetry  from  choice,  and  rather 
than  anything  else.  Once,  I  remember,  he  was  flogged 
for  taking  a  volume  of  miscellany  poems  into  church  in- 
stead of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The  boys  were 
astonished  at  the  crime,  because  certainly  one  would  much 


66  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

rather  read  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  in  which  one 
knows  what  to  expect,  than  a  book  of  foolish  rhymes. 

I  myself  was  the  first  to  find  out  his  ambition.  It  was 
in  this  way.  Coming  out  of  school  one  day  I  picked  up  a 
paper  which  was  blown  about  the  square.  It  was  covered 
with  writing.  I  read  some  of  it,  wondering  what  it  might 
mean.  There  was  a  good  deal  and  not  a  word  of  sense 
from  beginning  to  end :  the  writing  was  all  scored  out  and 
corrected  over  and  over  again.  Thus,  not  to  waste  your 
time  over  this  nonsense,  it  ran  something  like  this : 

When  the  refulgent  rays  of  Sol  began  prevail 
early  Ba^  Morn 
To  Awaken«4  all  the  maidens  of  the  dale 

Lawn 

Drove  Morpheus  shrieking  from  the  bcda  away 
— from  the  maids  and  swains. 

and  so  on.  One  is  ashamed  to  repeat  such  rubbish.  While 
I  was  reading  it  however,  Sam  Semple  came  running  back. 

"That  paper  is  mine,"  he  cried,  with  a  very  red  face, 
snatching  it  out  of  my  hands. 

"  Well — if  it  is  yours,  take  it.     What  does  it  mean  ?  " 

"  It's  poetry,  you  fool." 

"  If  you  call  me  a  fool,  Sam,  you'll  get  a  black  eye." 
He  was  three  inches  taller  than  myself  as  well  as  two  years 
older — but  this  was  the  way  all  the  boys  spoke  to  him. 

"  You  can't  understand,"  he  said,  "  none  of  you  can 
understand.  It's  poetry,  I  tell  you." 

I  told  my  father,  who  sent  for  him  and  in  my  presence 
admonished  him  kindly,  first  ordering  him  to  submit  his 
verses  for  correction,  as  if  they  were  in  Latin.  It  was  after 
school  hours :  the  room  was  empty  save  for  the  three  of  us 
— my  father  sat  at  his  desk  where  he  assumed  authority. 
Outside  the  schoolroom  he  was  but  a  gentle  creature. 

"  Boy,"  he  said,  "  as  for  these  verses — I  say  nothing. 
They  are  but  immature  imitations.  You  would  be  a  poet. 
Learn,  however,  that  the  lot  of  him  who  desires  that  call- 
ing is  the  hardest  and  the  worst  that  fate  can  have  in  store 
for  an  honest  man.  There  are  many  who  can  write 
rhymes  :  for  one  who  has  read  Ovid  and  Virgil,  the  making 


THE  POET  67 

of  verse  is  easy.  But  only  one  or  two  here  and  there,  out 
of  millions,  are  there  whose  lips  are  touched  with  the  celes- 
tial fire :  only  one  or  two  whose  verses  can  reach  the  heart 
and  fire  the  brain  of  those  who  read  them." 

"  Sir,  may  not  I,  too,  form  one  of  that  small  company  ?  " 
His  cheek  flamed  and  his  eyes  brightened.  For  once  Sam 
was  handsome. 

"  It  may  be  so.  I  say  nothing  to  the  contrary.  Learn, 
however,  that  even  if  genius  has  been  granted,  much  more 
will  be  required.  He  who  would  be  a  great  poet  must  at- 
tain, if  he  can,  by  meditation  and  self-restraint,  to  the  great 
mind.  He  must  be  sincere — truthful — courageous — think 
of  that,  boy ;  he  must  meditate.  Milton's  thoughts  were 
ever  on  religious  and  civil  freedom  ;  therefore  he  was  en- 
abled to  speak  as  a  prophet." 

He  gazed  upon  the  face  of  his  scholar:  the  cheek  was 
sallow  again  ;  the  eyes  dull ;  upon  that  mean  countenance 
no  sign  of  noble  or  of  lofty  thought.  My  father  sighed 
and  went  on. 

"  It  seems,  to  a  young  man,  a  great  thing  to  be  a  poet. 
He  will  escape — will  he  ? — the  humiliations  of  life.  He 
thinks  that  he  will  be  no  man's  servant ;  he  will  be  inde- 
pendent ;  he  will  work  as  his  genius  inclines  him.  Alas  ! 
he  little  knows  the  humiliations  of  the  starveling  poet.  No 
man's  servant  ?  There  is  none — believe  me — not  even  the 
African  slave,  who  has  to  feel  more  of  the  contempts,  the 
scorns,  the  servitude  of  the  world.  Such  an  one  have  I 
known.  He  had  to  bend  the  knee  to  the  patron,  who 
treated  him  with  open  scorn ;  and  to  the  bookseller,  who 
treated  him  with  contempt  undisguised.  One  may  be  a 
poet  who  is  endowed  with  the  means  of  a  livelihood.  Such 
is  the  ingenious  Mr.  Pope ;  or  one  who  has  an  office  to 
maintain  him  :  such  was  the  immortal  John  Milton ;  but, 
for  you  and  such  as  you,  boy,  born  in  a  humble  condition, 
and  ordained  by  Providence  for  that  condition,  there  is  no 
worse  servitude  than  that  of  a  bookseller's  hack.  Go, 
boy — think  of  these  things.  Continue  to  write  verses,  if 
by  their  aid  you  may  in  any  way  become  a  better  man  and 
more  easily  attain  to  the  Christian  life.  But  accept  mean- 
while, the  ruling  of  Providence  and  do  thy  duty 
in  that  station  of  life  to  which  thou  hast  been  called." 


68  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

So  saying  he  dismissed  the  boy,  who  went  away  down- 
cast and  with  hanging  head. 

Then  my  father  turned  to  me.  "  Son,"  he  said,  "  let  no 
vain  repinings  fill  thy  soul.  Service  is  thy  lot.  It  is  also 
mine.  It  is  the  lot  of  every  man  except  those  who  are 
born  to  wealth  and  rank.  I  do  not  envy  these,  because 
much  is  expected  of  them — a  thing  which  mostly  they  do 
not  understand.  And  too  many  of  these  are,  truth  to  say, 
in  the  service  of  Beelzebub.  We  are  all  servants  of  each 
other;  let  us  perform  our  service  with  cheerfulness  and 
even  with  joy.  The  Lord,  who  knows  what  is  best  for 
men,  hath  so  ordained  that  we  shall  be  dependent  upon 
each  other  in  all  things.  Servants,  I  say,  are  we  all  of  each 
other.  We  may  not  escape  the  common  lot — the  common 
servitude." 

Let  me  return  to  Sam.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was 
taken  from  school  and  placed  in  a  countinghouse  where  his 
duty  was  to  clean  out,  sweep,  and  dust  the  place  every 
morning;  to  be  at  the  beck  and  call  of  his  master;  to  copy 
letters  and  to  add  up  figures.  I  asked  him  how  he  liked 
this  employment. 

"  It  is  well  enough,"  he  said,  "  until  I  can  go  whither  I 
am  called.  But  to  serve  at  adding  up  the  price  of  barrels 
of  tarpaulin  all  my  life  !  No,  Jack,  no.  I  am  made  of  stuff 
too  good." 

He  continued  for  three  years  in  this  employment.  We 
then  heard  that  he  had  been  dismissed  for  negligence,  his 
master  having  made  certain  discoveries  that  greatly  enraged 
him.  He  then  went  on  board  ship  in  the  capacity  of  clerk 
or  assistant  to  the  supercargo,  but  at  the  end  of  his  first 
voyage  he  was  sent  about  his  business. 

"  It  is  true,"  he  told  me,  "  that  there  were  omissions  in 
the  books.  Who  can  keep  books  below,  by  the  light  of  a 
stinking  tallow  candle,  when  one  can  lie  on  the  deck  in  the 
sun  and  watch  the  waves  ?  But  these  people — these 
people — among  them  all,  Jack,  there  is  not  one  who  under- 
stands the  poet,  except  your  father,  and  he  will  have  it  that 
the  poet  must  starve.  Well,  there  is  another  way."  But 
he  would  tell  me  no  more. 

That  way  was  this.  You  know,  because  it  led  to  the 
basting.  The  day  after  the  adventure  in  the  captain's 


THE  POET  69 

garden,  Sam  put  together  all  he  had,  borrowed  what  money 
his  mother  would  give  him  and  went  off  to  London  by  the 
waggon. 

After  a  while  a  letter  came  from  him.  It  was  addressed 
to  his  mother,  who  brought  it  to  the  school  because  she 
could  not  understand  what  was  meant.  Sam  (I  believe  he 
was  lying)  said  that  he  had  been  received  into  the  Com- 
pany of  the  Wits ;  his  verse,  he  said,  was  regarded  with  re- 
spect at  the  coffee  house ;  he  was  already  known  to  many 
poets  and  booksellers ;  he  asked  for  a  small  advance  of 
money  and  he  entreated  his  mother  to  let  it  be  known  in  the 
town  that  he  was  publishing  a  volume  of  verse  by  sub- 
scription. His  former  patrons,  he  said,  would  doubtless 
assist  him  by  giving  their  names  and  guineas.  The  book, 
he  added,  would  certainly  place  him  among  the  acknowl- 
edged poets  of  the  day — even  with  Pope  and  Gay. 

There  was  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  sending  the 
guineas  :  but  a  few  of  the  better  sort  consented,  and  in  due 
course  received  their  copies.  It  was  a  thin  quarto  with  a 
large  margin.  The  title  page  was  as  follows  : 

"  MISCELLANY  POEMS 

by 

SAM  SEMPLE, 
Gentleman." 

"  Gentleman  !  "  said  the  vicar.  "  How  long  has  Sam 
been  a  gentleman  ?  He  will  next,  no  doubt,  describe  him- 
self as  esquire.  As  for  the  verses — trash — two-penny 
trash  !  Alas  !  And  they  cost  me  a  guinea !  " 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE    OPENING   OF   THE    SPA 

THE  wonderful  letter  from  Sam  Semple  was  received  in 
April.  No  one  from  the  outset  questioned  his  assertions. 
This  seems  wonderful — but  they  could  only  be  tried  by  a 
letter  to  London  or  a  journey  thither.  Now  our  merchants 
had  correspondents  in  the  city  of  London,  but  not  in  the 
fashionable  quarters,  and  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that 
the  merchants  of  this  city  concerned  themselves  not  at  all 
with  the  pursuits  of  fashion  or  even  with  the  gatherings  of 
the  wits  in  the  coffee  house.  As  for  the  journey  to  London 

no  one  will  willingly  undertake  it  unless  he  is  compelled 

You  may  go  by  way  of  Ely  and  Cambridge — but  the  road 
nearly  all  the  way  to  Cambridge  lies  through  the  soft  and 
treacherous  fen  when  if  a  traveller  escape  being  bogged,  a 
hundred  to  one  he  will  probably  acquire  an  ague  which  will 
trouble  him  for  many  days  afterwards.  Or  you  may  go  by 
way  of  Swaffham  and  East  Dereham  through  Norwich.  By 
this  way  there  are  no  fens,  but  the  road  to  Norwich  is 
practicable  only  by  broad  wheeled  waggons  or  on  horse- 
back, and  I  doubt  if  the  forty  miles  could  be  covered  in 
less  than  two  days.  At  Norwich,  it  is  true,  there  is  a  bet- 
ter road  and  a  stage  coach  carries  passengers  to  London  in 
twelve  hours. 

It  is  therefore  a  long  and  tedious  journey  from  Lynn  to 
London  and  one  not  to  be  undertaken  without  strong 
reasons.  Then — even  if  the  society  had  entertained  sus- 
picions and  deputed  one  or  more  to  make  that  journey  and 
to  inquire  as  to  the  truth  of  the  letter,  how  and  where,  in 
so  vast  a  city,  would  one  begin  the  enquiry. 

In  truth,  however,  the  letter  was  received  without  the 
least  suspicion.  Yet  it  was  from  beginning  to  end  an  art- 
fully concocted  lie — part  of  a  conspiracy  ;  an  invention  de- 
vised by  the  desire  for  revenge ;  an  ingenious  device — let 
us  give  the  devil  his  due — by  one  whose  only  weapon  was 
his  cunning. 

.  70 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA  71 

Every  man  of  the  "  Society  "  went  home  brimful  of  the 
discovery.  The  next  day  the  doctor's  garden  was  crowded 
with  people  all  pressing  together,  trampling  over  his  cur- 
rant and  gooseberry  bushes,  drawing  up  the  bucket  without 
cessation  in  order  to  taste  the  water  which  was  to  cure  all 
diseases — even  like  the  Pool  of  Bethesda.  Many  among 
them  had  used  the  water  all  their  lives  without  discovering 
any  peculiarity  in  taste — in  fact  as  if  it  had  been  ordinary 
water  conferred  upon  man  by  Providence  for  the  brewing 
of  his  beer  and  the  making  of  his  punch  and  the  washing 
of  his  linen.  Now,  however,  so  great  is  the  power  of 
faith,  they  drank  it  as  it  came  out  of  the  well — a  thing 
abhorrent  to  most  people  who  cannot  abide  plain  water. 
They  held  it  up  to  the  light,  admiring  its  wonderful  clear- 
ness :  they  called  attention  to  the  beads  of  air  rising  in  the 
glass,  as  a  plain  proof  of  its  health-giving  qualities ;  they 
smacked  their  lips  over  it,  detecting  the  presence  of  un- 
known ingredients  :  those  who  were  already  rheumatic  re- 
solved to  drink  it  every  day  at  frequent  intervals :  after  a 
single  draught  they  felt  relief  in  their  joints  ;  they  declared 
that  the  rheumatic  pains  were  subsiding  rapidly :  nay,  were 
already  gone,  and  they  rejoiced  in  the  strength  of  their  faith 
as  if  they  were  driving  an  unwelcome  guest  out  through  an 
open  door. 

The  doctor  made  haste  to  issue  and  to  print  his  own  ex- 
amination of  the  water.  In  this  document  as  I  have  told 
you,  he  very  remarkably  agreed  with  the  analysis  sent  down 
by  the  egregious  Samuel.  He  appended  to  his  list  of  in- 
gredients certain  cases  which  he  indicated  by  initials  in 
which  the  water  had  proved  beneficial :  most  of  them  at 
the  outset,  were  the  cases  of  those  who,  on  the  first  day, 
found  relief  from  a  single  glass.  Many  more  cases  after- 
wards occurred. 

After  the  town,  the  country.  The  report  of  the  valua- 
ble discovery  spread  rapidly.  The  farmer  folk  who 
brought  their  produce,  pigs,  sheep,  poultry  and  cattle  to  our 
markets  carried  the  news  home  with  them :  the  whole 
town — indeed,  in  a  few  hours  was  as  they  say,  all  agog  with 
the  discovery  and  eager,  even  down  to  the  fo'c'sle  seamen 
to  drink  of  a  well  which  was  by  this  time  reported  among 
the  ignorant  class  not  only  to  cure  but  also  to  prevent  dis- 


72  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

eases.  Then  gentlemen  began  to  ride  in ;  on  market  day 
there  are  always  gentlemen  in  the  town ;  they  have  an 
ordinary  of  their  own  at  the  Crown ;  they  were  at  first  in- 
credulous but  they  would  willingly  taste  of  the  spring.  As 
fresh  water  was  comparatively  strange  to  them  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  some  of  them  detected  an  indescribable  taste 
which  they  were  readily  persuaded  to  believe  was  proof  of 
a  medicinal  character.  They  were  followed  by  ladies  also 
curious  to  taste,  to  prove,  and,  in  many  cases,  to  be  cured. 

Meantime  everybody,  both  of  the  town  and  of  the  coun- 
try, rejoiced  at  hearing  that  it  had  been  decided  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  discovery  in  order  to  convert  Lynn  Regis, 
previously  esteemed  as  on  the  same  level  as  Gosport  in  the 
south  of  England  or  Wapping  by  the  port  of  London,  into 
a  place  of  fashionable  resort  and  another  Bath  or  Tunbridge 
Wells.  It  was  difficult,  however,  to  believe  that  the  old 
town  with  its  narrow  and  winding  streets,  its  streams,  its 
bridges,  its  old  decayed  courts  and  ancient  pavements  could 
accommodate  itself  to  the  wants  and  the  taste — or  even  the 
presence  of  the  polite  world. 

Then  the  news  spread  further  afield.  The  reverend 
canons  in  their  secluded  close  beside  their  venerable 
cathedral — whether  at  Peterborough,  Lincoln,  Ely  or  Nor- 
wich, heard  the  story  magnified  and  exaggerated,  how  at 
Lynn  had  been  found  a  spring  of  water  that  miraculously 
healed  all  wounds,  cured  all  diseases  and  made  the  halt  to 
run  and  the  cripple  to  stand.  Better  than  all  it  restored  the 
power  of  drinking  port  wine  to  the  old  divines  who  had 
been  compelled  by  their  infirmities  to  give  up  that  generous 
wine. 

In  their  great  colleges,  a  world  too  wide  for  the  young 
men  who  entered  them  as  students,  the  fellows  heard  the 
news  and  talked  about  the  discovery  in  the  dull  combination 
rooms  where  the  talk  was  ever  mainly  of  the  rents  and  the 
dinners,  the  last  brew  at  the  college  brewery,  yesterday's 
cards,  or  the  approaching  vacancy  in  a  college  living. 
They,  too,  pricked  up  their  ears  at  the  news  because  for 
them  as  well  as  their  reverend  brethren  of  the  cathedral 
gout  and  rheumatism  were  deadly  enemies.  If  only  Provi- 
dence would  remove  from  mankind  those  two  diseases 
which  plague  and  pester  those  to  whom  their  lives  would 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA  73 

otherwise  be  full  of  comfort  and  happiness,  cheered  by  wine 
and  punch,  stayed  and  comforted  by  the  good  things  ready 
to  the  hand  of  the  cook  and  the  housewife. 

And  from  all  the  towns  around — from  Boston,  Spalding, 
Wisbeach,  Bury,  Wells,  there  came  messengers  and  letters 
of  inquiry  all  asking  if  the  news  was  true — if  people  had 
been  already  treated  and  already  cured — if  lodgings  were  to 
be  had  and  so  forth. 

And  then  the  preparations  began.  The  committee  went 
from  house  to  house  encouraging  and  stimulating  the  people 
to  make  ready  for  such  an  incursion  as  the  place  had  never 
before  known  even  at  fair  time,  and  promising  a  golden 
harvest.  Who  would  not  wish  to  share  in  such  a  harvest  ? 

First,  lodgings  had  to  be  got  ready — they  must  be  clean 
at  least  and  furnished  with  necessaries.  People  at  the  spa 
do  not  ask  for  great  things  in  furniture — they  do  not  desire 
to  sit  in  their  lodgings  which  are  only  for  sleeping  and 
dressing — a  blind  in  the  window  or  a  curtain  to  keep  out 
the  sun  and  prying  eyes, — a  bed — a  chair — a  cupboard — a 
looking-glass — a  table — not  even  the  most  fashionable  lady 
asks  for  more  except  that  the  bed  be  soft  and  the  wainscot 
and  floor  of  the  room  be  clean.  The  better  houses  would 
be  kept  for  the  better  sort :  the  sailors'  houses  by  the 
Common  Stath  and  the  King's  Stath  would  do  for  the 
visitors'  servants  who  could  also  eat  and  drink  in  the 
taverns  of  the  riverside.  Houses  deserted  and  suffered  to 
fall  into  decay  in  the  courts  of  the  town  were  hastily 
repaired,  the  roofs  patched  up,  the  windows  replaced,  the 
doors  and  woodwork  painted.  Everywhere  rooms  were 
cleaned :  beds  were  put  up,  all  the  mattresses,  all  the 
pillows,  all  the  blankets  and  sheets  in  the  town  were 
brought  up  and  more  were  ordered  from  Boston  and  other 
places  accessible  by  river  or  by  sea.  Certainly  the  town 
had  never  before  had  such  a  cleaning  while  the  painters 
worked  all  night  as  well  as  all  day  to  get  through  their 
orders. 

It  was  next  necessary  to  provide  supplies  for  the  multi- 
tude, when  they  should  arrive.  I  have  spoken  of  the  plenty 
and  abundance  of  everything  in  the  town  of  Lynn.  The 
plenty  is  due  to  the  great  fertility  of  the  reclaimed  land 
which  enables  the  farmers  to  grow  more  than  they  can  sell 


74  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

for  want  of  a  market.  There  is  sent  abroad,  as  a  rule,  to 
the  low  countries,  much  of  the  produce  of  the  farms. 
There  was  therefore  no  difficulty  in  persuading  the  farmers 
to  hold  their  hands  for  a  week  or  two,  and  when  the  com- 
pany began  to  arrive,  to  send  into  the  town  quantities  of 
provisions  of  all  kinds — pork,  bacon,  mutton,  beef,  poultry, 
eggs,  vegetables  and  milk.  Boats  were  engaged  for  the 
conveyance  of  these  stores  down  the  river.  There  would 
be  provided  food  in  abundance.  And  as  for  drink  there 
was  no  difficulty  at  all  in  a  town  which  imported  whole 
cargoes  of  wine  every  year. 

I  must  not  forget  the  preparation  made  in  the  churches. 
There  are  two  in  Lynn,  ancient  and  venerable  churches 
both.  I  believe  that  they  were  always  much  larger  than  was 
ever  wanted  considering  the  number  of  the  people,  but  in 
Norfolk  the  churches  are  all  too  large,  being  so  built  for  the 
greater  praise  and  glory  of  God.  However,  both  in  St. 
Margaret's  and  in  St.  Nicholas,  the  congregations  had  long 
since  shrunk  so  that  there  were  wide  spaces  between  the 
walls  and  the  pews.  These  spaces  were  now  filled  up  with 
new  pews  for  the  accommodation  of  the  expected  invasion 
of  visitors.  I  confess  that  I  admire  the  simple  faith  in  the 
coming  success  of  the  spa  which  at  this  time  animated  not 
only  those  most  interested  as  the  doctor  himself,  but  also 
the  people  of  the  town  who  knew  nothing  except  what  they 
were  told,  namely  that  the  well  in  the  doctor's  garden  had 
properties,  which  were  sovereign  against  certain  diseases, 
and  that  all  the  world  had  learned  this  fact  and  were  coming 
to  be  cured. 

There  were  next  the  public  preparations.  The  neces- 
sity of  despatch  caused  the  structures  to  be  of  wood  which, 
however,  when  brightly  painted,  may  produce  a  more 
pleasing  effect  than  brick.  First,  there  was  the  pump  room. 
This  was  built,  of  course,  over  the  well  in  the  doctor's  gar- 
den, which  it  almost  covered :  it  was  a  square  or  oblong 
building,  having  the  well  in  one  corner,  and  containing 
a  simple  room  with  large  sash  windows,  unfurnished 
save  for  a  wooden  bench  running  round  the  wall  and  two 
others  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  The  water  was  pumped 
up  fresh  and  cool — it  was  really  a  very  fine  well  of  water 
always  copious — into  a  large  basin ;  a  long  counter  ran 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA  75 

across  the  room  in  front  of  the  basin  :  the  counter  was  pro- 
vided with  glasses  of  various  sizes  and  behind  the  counter 
were  two  girls  hired  as  dippers.  The  doctor's  door  opened 
out  of  the  pump  room  so  as  to  afford  readiness  and  con- 
venience for  consultation. 

Lastly  it  was  necessary  to  provide  for  the  amusement  of 
the  visitors.  Everybody  knows  that  for  one  person  who 
visits  a  spa  for  health,  there  are  two  who  visit  it  for  the 
amusements  and  the  pleasures  and  entertainments  provided 
at  these  places.  I  have  mentioned  the  open  fields  within 
the  walls  of  the  town  which  were  anciently  covered  with 
the  buildings  and  the  gardens  of  the  monks  and  friars  and 
the  nuns.  They  are  planted  in  some  places  with  trees :  for 
instance  below  the  Lady's  Mount,  in  which  is  the  ancient 
chapel,  there  lie  fields  on  which  now  stand  many  noble 
trees.  The  committee  chose  this  spot  for  the  construction 
of  the  assembly  rooms.  They  first  enclosed  a  large  portion 
with  a  wooden  fence  :  they  then  laid  out  the  grounds  with 
paths  :  this  done  they  erected  a  long  room  where  the  assem- 
bly might  be  held,  with  a  smooth  and  level  floor  fit  for 
dancing.  This  room  was  also  to  be  the  resort  of  the  com- 
pany in  the  mornings  and  when  the  weather  was  rainy  : 
adjoining  the  long  room  was  the  card  room,  with  one  long 
table  and  several  small  tables  :  and  the  tea  room,  where  that 
beverage  could  be  served  with  drinks  and  cordials  to  coun- 
teract its  (possibly)  evil  effects.  A  gallery  at  one  end  was 
ready  for  the  music — outside  there  was  another  building  for 
the  music  to  play  on  fine  evenings. 

I  must  not  forget  the  decoration  of  the  trees.  Nothing 
could  be  more  beautiful  than  this  avenue  after  nightfall : 
lamps  of  various  colours  hung  on  festoons  from  branch  to 
branch  :  across  the  avenue  in  arches,  and  from  tree  to  tree 
in  parallel  lines :  these  in  the  evening  produced  an  appear- 
ance of  light  and  colour  that  ravished  the  eye  of  every  be- 
holder. Those  who  knew  London  declared  that  in  the 
daytime  this  place  could  compare  favourably  with  the  Mall 
in  St.  James's  Park,  and  in  the  evening  after  dark  even  with 
the  Marylebone  Gardens  or  Vauxhall. 

All  these  preparations  were  pushed  forward  with  the  ut- 
most diligence,  so  that  everything,  might  be  ready  by  the  first 
of  May,  on  which  day  it  was  hoped  that  the  season  of  the 


76  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

spa  would  commence.  Musicians  and  singers  were  en- 
gaged :  they  came  from  London,  bringing  good  recommen- 
dation from  some  of  the  pleasure  gardens  where  they  had 
performed  with  credit.  They  were  to  play  for  the  dancing 
on  the  nights  of  the  assembly ;  they  were  also  to  play  in 
the  morning  when  engaged  or  bespoke  by  the  gentlemen. 
They  brought  with  them  two  or  three  fiddlers ;  players  on 
various  instruments  of  brass,  and  the  horns.  A  dancing 
master,  Mr.  Prappit,  came  from  Norwich :  he  was  busy  for 
three  weeks  before  the  opening,  with  the  young  folks  of  the 
town,  who  had  never  before  danced  anything  more  ambi- 
tious than  a  hey  or  a  jig  or  a  country  dance,  or  a  frolic 
round  the  May  pole.  Mr.  Prappit  was  also  engaged  as 
master  of  the  ceremonies,  a  post  of  great  responsibility  and 
distinction. 

A  theatre  is  a  necessary  part  of  every  public  place  :  there- 
fore a  troop  of  strolling  players  received  permission  to  per- 
form three  evenings  in  the  week  in  the  large  room  of  the 
Duke's  Head  inn :  I  know  not  what  reputation  they  had  as 
actors,  but  I  can  bear  witness  that  they  made  as  much  as 
they  could  out  of  a  passion,  tearing  it,  so  to  speak,  to  rags, 
and  bawling  themselves  hoarse,  so  that  at  least  they  earned 
their  money,  which  was  not  much,  I  fear. 

The  cock  pit  was  newly  repaired  for  the  lovers  of  that 
manly  and  favourite  sport  to  which  the  gentlemen  of  Nor- 
folk are,  as  is  well  known,  much  addicted.  For  those  who 
prefer  the  more  quiet  games  there  was  the  bowling  green. 
And  lastly,  for  those  who  incline  to  the  ruder  sports,  there 
were  provided  masters  of  fence  who  could  play  with  quarter 
staff  or  cudgel,  jugglers  and  conjurers,  with  rope  dancers, 
tumblers,  merry  andrews  and  such  folk,  together  with  a  tent 
for  their  performance. 

These  details  are  perhaps  below  the  dignity  of  history.  I 
mention  them  in  order  to  let  it  be  understood  that  the  in- 
vention— the  lying  invention  of  Sam  Semple,  was  bearing 
the  fruit  which  he  most  desired  in  the  deception  of  the 
whole  town.  There  was  never,  I  believe,  so  great  a  decep- 
tion attempted  or  carried  into  effect. 

Meantime,  the  work  of  the  town  continued  as  usual. 
The  port  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  spa.  For  my  own 
part  I  was  discharging  cargo  from  The  Lady  of  Lynn,  and 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA  77 

making  ready  to  take  in  a  new  cargo.  All  day  I  was  en- 
gaged on  board  :  I  slept  on  board :  but  in  the  evening  I 
went  ashore  and  looked  on  at  the  preparations,  and  at  this 
new  world  of  fashion  and  pleasure  the  like  of  which  I  had 
never  seen  before.  And,  as  usual,  the  ships  came  into  port 
and  dropped  anchor  off  the  Stath :  or  they  cleared  out  and 
went  down  the  river  with  the  current  and  the  tide.  There 
were  two  kinds  of  life  in  the  place  when  there  had  never 
before  been  more  than  one :  and  while  the  people  in  one 
part  of  the  town  had  nothing  to  think  of  but  amusement, 
those  at  the  other  part  were  as  usual,  engaged  in  their  va- 
rious work.  The  clerks  ran  about  with  their  quills  behind 
their  ears  ;  the  porters  rolled  the  casks,  the  bargemen  brought 
their  unwieldy  craft  alongside  with  many  loud  sounding 
oaths  and  the  yohoing  without  which  they  can  do  nothing ; 
and  in  the  taverns  the  sailors  drank  and  danced  and  sang, 
quite  unmindful  of  the  people  in  the  streets  behind  them. 

The  first  arrivals  were  the  gentlefolk  from  the  country 
round  Lynn.  They  learned  when  everything  would  be 
ready  and  they  came  in  as  soon  as  the  gardens  were  laid 
out,  the  long  room  finished  and  the  first  evening  announced 
— they  had  but  a  few  miles  to  travel ;  they  engaged  the 
best  lodgings  and  demanded  the  best  provisions.  As  for 
wine,  they  could  not  have  better  because  there  is  no  better 
wine  than  fills  the  cellars  of  our  merchants  or  our  vintners. 

As  these  good  people  came  to  the  spa  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  drink  the  waters  and  this  they  did  with  much 
importance,  every  morning.  The  natives  of  Norfolk  are, 
I  verily  believe,  the  longest  lived  and  the  most  healthy  peo- 
ple in  the  whole  world.  With  the  exception  of  ague — they 
call  it  the  bailiff  of  Marshland — the  people  in  this  county 
seldom  suffer  from  any  disorder  and  live  to  a  good  old  age. 
Yet  all  with  one  consent  began  the  day  by  drinking  a  glass 
of  the  cold  bright  water  served  in  the  pump  room.  Very 
few  of  them,  I  say,  were  troubled  with  any  kind  of  com- 
plaint :  though  the  gentlemen  are  hard  drinkers,  they  are 
also  hard  riders  and  the  open  air  and  cold  winds  of  the 
morning  drive  out  and  dissipate  the  fumes  of  the  evening 
and  its  wine.  For  this  reason,  though  many  of  our  sea 
captains  drink  hard  at  sea,  they  are  never  a  bit  the  worse 
for  the  fresh  salt  air  is  the  finest  restorative,  and  a  sailor 


78  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

may  be  drunk  once  every  twenty-four  hours  and  yet  live  to 
a  hundred  and  be  none  the  worse.  Most  of  those  who 
drank  the  waters  had  never  felt  any  symptoms  of  gout  or 
rheumatism,  lumbago,  sciatica,  pleurisy,  consumption  or 
asthma,  or  any  other  disease  whatever.  They  flocked  to 
the  pump  room  in  order  to  drive  away  even  the  possibility 
of  these  symptoms.  To  drink  the  waters  for  a  month,  or 
even  for  a  fortnight,  was  considered  sovereign  for  the  keep- 
ing off  of  all  kinds  of  sickness  for  at  least  a  whole  year  to 
come.  It  was  strange  how  quite  young  men  and  young 
maidens  suddenly  conceived  this  superstitious  belief — I  can 
call  it  nothing  but  superstition — that  those  who  were  per- 
fectly well  would  be  maintained  in  health — although  young 
people  of  this  age  do  not  commonly  contract  the  diseases 
above  enumerated — by  drinking  a  glass  of  water  every 
morning.  That  old  men,  who  will  catch  at  anything  that 
offers  to  restore  health,  should  resort  to  this  newly  dis- 
covered universal  medicine  was  not  so  strange.  Captain 
Crowle,  who,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  had  never  suffered 
a  day's  sickness  in  the  seventy  years  of  his  life ;  who  kept 
his  teeth  firm  and  sound ;  whose  hair  had  not  fallen  off; 
who  stood  firm  on  his  legs  and  square  in  his  shoulders  ; 
who  still  drank  free  and  devoured  his  rations  as  eagerly  as 
any  able-bodied  sailor,  marched  every  morning  to  the  pump 
room  and  took  his  glass.  "Jack,"  he  said,  "the  dis- 
covery is  truly  miraculous.  By  the  Lord  !  it  will  make  us 
all  live  to  be  a  hundred.  Already  I  feel  once  more  like  a 
man  of  thirty.  I  shall  shake  a  leg,  yet,  at  the  wedding  of 
Molly's  grandchildren." 

They  all  consulted  the  doctor — the  sick  and  the  well 
alike — the  former  in  order  to  be  cured  and  the  latter  in 
order  to  guard  against  disease.  Now  that  one  knows  the 
foundation  of  the  whole  business  it  is  wonderful  to  reflect 
upon  the  number  of  cures  the  doctor  was  able  to  register 
in  his  book :  cures  about  which  there  could  be  neither 
doubt  nor  dispute,  so  that  one  is  fain  to  think  that  faith 
alone  may  be  sufficient  to  drive  out  rheumatism.  The  pre- 
scription of  the  worthy  doctor  rested  entirely  on  the  cura- 
tive power  of  the  water.  "You  will  take,"  he  said  to 
every  one  who  came  to  him,  "  every  morning  before  break- 
fast for  choice,  a  glass  of  the  water.  Or,  if  you  prefer 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA  79 

first  to  take  a  dish  of  tea,  a  cup  of  chocolate,  or  a  draught 
of  beer,  do  so  by  all  means.  In  that  case  take  your  glass 
an  hour — not  more — after  breakfast.  I  prescribe  in  your 
case,  a  dose  in  a  glass  numbered  A  or  B — or  C  " — as  the 
case  might  be.  "  It  contains  seven  ounces  and  six 
drachms " — or  some  other  weight  as  the  case  might  be. 
He  was  very  exact  in  the  size  of  the  glass  and  the  weight 
of  the  dose.  "  This  is  the  exact  quantity  which  operates 
efficaciously  in  your  case.  Do  not  take  more  which  will 
not  expedite  your  cure :  nor  less  which  will  hinder  it. 
Seven  ounces  and  six  drachms." 

The  doctor's  dignity  and  gravity  indeed  were  a  credit  to 
the  town.  Out  of  London,  I  believe,  there  was  no  phy- 
sician with  such  outward  tokens  of  science.  The  velvet 
coat  he  now  wore  habitually  :  a  new  wig  greatly  delayed 
had  been  brought  from  Norwich  :  his  lace  and  his  linen 
were  clean  every  morning :  his  fingers  became  curly  from 
the  continual  clasp  of  the  guinea.  No  one,  I  am  sure,  ex- 
pected to  find  so  grave  and  dignified  a  physician  in  a  town 
occupied  mainly  by  rude  tarpaulins  and  their  ladies.  Where 
nothing  better  than  a  mere  apothecary  could  be  expected 
there  was  found  a  physician  in  manner  and  in  appearance 
equal  to  the  most  fashionable  doctor  of  medicine  in  London 
itself. 

"  Before  breakfast,  madam,"  he  repeated.  "  Fasting,  if 
possible.  If  that  is  not  convenient,  after  breakfast.  Think 
not  to  hasten  the  operation  of  the  waters  by  too  generous  a 
use  of  them.  Seven  ounces  and  six  drachms  in  weight. 
Let  that  be  your  daily  allowance :  that  and  no  more.  For 
your  diet,  let  it  be  ample,  generous,  and  of  the  best  quality 
that  the  market  supplies.  It  is  providentially,  considering 
the  wants  of  the  spa — the  best  market  in  Norfolk,  provided 
with  birds  of  all  kinds,  both  wild  and  of  the  farmyard : 
with  beef  and  mutton  fattened  on  the  pastures  of  Marsh- 
land ;  and  with  fruit  and  other  things  of  the  very  best. 
Partake  plentifully,  madam.  Do  not  deny  yourself.  Tea, 
you  may  take  if  you  desire  it :  very  good  tea  can  be  ob- 
tained of  the  apothecary  at  a  guinea  a  pound.  For  my 
own  part  I  allow  the  beverage  to  be  sometimes  useful  in 
clearing  the  brain  of  noxious  vapours  and  the  body  of  cor- 
rupt humours.  For  wine  I  recommend  Port,  Malmesey, 


80  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Madeira  or  Lisbon — but  not  more  than  one  measured  pint 
in  the  day.  You  must  take  exercise  gently  by  walking  in 
the  gardens,  or  in  the  long  room,  or  by  dancing  in  the 
evening.  And  you  may  maintain  cheerfulness  of  mind, 
which  is  beneficial  in  any  case  whether  of  sickness  or  of 
health,  by  taking  a  hand  in  the  card  room." 

To  the  gentlemen  who  had  not  as  yet  fallen  victims  to 
any  of  the  prevalent  diseases  he  would  discourse  much  after 
the  same  fashion. 

"  Put  out  your  tongue,  sir — I  believe  it  to  be  furred 

So.  .  .  .  Dear  me!  Worse  than  I  suspected.  And  your 
pulse  ?  I  believe  it  to  be  strong.  So.  As  I  thought.  A 
little  too  strong,  perhaps  even  febrile.  Your  habits,  I  sup- 
pose, include  a  hearty  appetite  and  a  full  allowance  of  strong 
ale  and  wine.  You  ride — you  hunt — you  attend  races, 
cockpit  and  sport  of  all  kinds;  you  are  not  addicted  to 
reading  or  to  study,  and  you  sometimes  play  cards." 

"  The  doctor,"  said  his  patients  afterwards,  "  knew  ex- 
actly and  could  tell  by  my  pulse  and  my  tongue  my  daily 
way  of  living.  'Tis  wonderful !  " 

"  It  is  my  duty  to  warn  you,  sir,  that  you  have  within 
you  the  seeds  of  gout — of  inflammatory  gout — which  will 
fix  itself  first  upon  the  big  toe  and  thus  become  like  a  bag 
of  red  hot  needles.  Afterwards  it  will  mount  higher — but 
I  will  spare  you  the  description  of  your  dying  agonies. 
You  may,  however,  avert  this  suffering,  or  postpone  it,  so 
that  it  will  only  seize  upon  you  should  you  live  to  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty,  or  thereabouts.  The  surest  method  is  by 
drinking  these  waters  every  year  for  a  week  or  two.  One 
tumbler  every  morning  fasting.  You  will  take  a  measured 
weight  of  seven  ounces  and  six  drachms — "  or  as  I  said  be- 
fore some  other  weight.  "  I  prescribe  in  your  case,  no 
other  medicine.  Let  your  diet  be  generous.  Confine 
yourself  to  a  single  bottle  of  wine  a  day.  Ride  as  usual 
and,  in  fact,  live  as  you  are  accustomed.  Nature,  sir,  ab- 
hors a  revolution  :  she  expects  to  perform  her  usual  work  in 
the  usual  manner." 

If  any  came  to  him  already  afflicted  with  gout  or  rheuma- 
tism he  prescribed  for  them  in  a  similarly  easy  and  simple 
fashion. 

"You   have  been   taking   colchicum — "  or  whatever  it 


THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SPA  81 

might  have  been.  "  I  recommend  you  on  no  account  to 
discontinue  a  medicine  to  which  you  are  accustomed. 
Gout  is  an  enemy  which  may  be  attacked  from  many 
points.  While  it  is  resisting  so  far  successfully  the  attack 
by  the  drugs  which  have  been  administered  to  you,  I  shall 
attack  it  from  an  unsuspected  quarter.  Ha !  I  shall  fall 
upon  the  unguarded  flank  with  an  infallible  method.  You 
will  take,  sir,  three  glasses  of  water  daily ;  each  before 
meals.  Each  glass  contains  the  measured  weight  of  seven 
ounces  and  six  drachms,"  or  some  other  weight  was  care- 
fully prescribed.  "You  will,  in  other  respects,  follow  the 
diet  recommended  by  your  former  physicians." 

"  The  doctor,"  said  his  patients,  "  is  not  one  who  scoffs 
at  his  brethren.  On  the  contrary,  he  continues  their  treat- 
ment, only  adding  the  water.  And  you  see  what  I  am 
now." 

"  Observe,"  the  doctor  continued,  "  my  treatment  is 
simple.  It  is  so  simple  that  it  must  command  success.  I 
shall  expect  therefore,  to  find  in  you,  for  your  own  share 
in  the  cure,  that  faith  which  assists  nature.  Nothing  so 
disconcerts  an  enemy  as  the  confidence  of  victory  on  the 
other  side.  Before  that  faith,  gout  flies,  terrified  ;  and  na- 
ture, triumphant,  resumes  that  nice  balanced  equilibrium  of 
all  the  functions  which  the  unlearned  call  health." 

The  doctor  also  encouraged  his  dippers,  one  of  whom 
was  a  young  woman  of  attractive  appearance  and  great 
freedom  of  tongue,  to  relate  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
drank  the  waters,  cases  of  cure  and  rapid  recovery.  This 
encouragement  caused  the  girl  who  had  a  fine  natural  gift 
of  embellishment  or  development,  to  sing  the  praises  of  the 
spa  with  a  most  audacious  contempt  for  the  structure  of 
fact. 

"  Lawk,  madam  !  "  she  would  say,  using  the  broad  Nor- 
folk accent  which  I  choose  to  convert  into  English,  be- 
cause her  discourse  would  be  unintelligible  save  to  the  folk 
of  the  county.  "  To  think  what  this  blessed  water  can 
do !  That  poor  gentleman  who  has  just  gone  out — you 
saw  yourself  that  he  now  walks  as  upright  as  a  lance  and 
as  stiff  as  a  recruiting  sergeant.  He  first  came  to  the 
pump  room,  was  it  a  fortnight  ago  or  three  weeks,  Jenny  ? 
Twelve  days?  To  be  sure.  You  ought  to  know — 


82  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Jenny  dipped  for  him,  madam.  He  was  carried  in :  his 
very  crutches  were  no  good  to  him ;  and  as  for  his  poor 
feet,  they  dangle  for  all  the  world  like  lumps  of  pork.  And 
his  groans, — Lawk  ! — they  would  move  a  heart  of  stone. 
Jenny  here,  who  has  a  feeling  heart,  though  but  a  humble 
dipper  at  your  service,  madam,  like  myself  and  pleased  to 
be  of  service  to  so  fine  a  lady,  burst  into  tears  when  she 
saw  him — didn't  you,  Jenny,  my  dear  ?  Before  all  the  peo- 
ple, she  did.  Well,  he  drank  three  tumblers  every  day — 
each  exactly  seven  ounces  and  six  drachms  in  weight — oh  ! 
the  doctor  knows  what  to  do  for  his  patients — did  your 
ladyship  ever  see  a  wiser  doctor  ?  On  the  third  day  he  left 
ofF  groaning  :  on  the  fourth  he  said,  '  I  feel  better,  give  me 
my  third  tumbler.'  Didn't  he  say  those  very  words, 
Jenny  ?  c  Give  me  my  third,'  he  said.  On  the  fifth  day 
he  walked  in  by  himself.  It  was  on  crutches,  it  is  true,  for 
even  this  water  takes  its  time.  Lord  forbid  that  I  should 
tell  your  ladyship  anything  but  gospel.  On  the  sixth  day 
he  used  a  walking  stick  :  on  the  seventh,  he  said,  walking 
upright,  his  stick  over  his  shoulder,  l  If  it  was  not  Sunday,' 
he  said,  1 1  should  cut  a  caper — cut  a  caper,'  he  said.  Jenny 
heard  him.  And  now  he  talks  of  going  home  where  a 
sweet  young  lady,  almost  as  beautiful  as  your  ladyship, 
waits  for  him  with  a  fortune  of  twenty  thousand  pounds. 
She  couldn't  marry  a  man,  could  she,  madam,  with  both 
feet,  as  a  body  might  say,  in  the  grave  ?  Nobody  except  the 
doctor  and  us  dippers,  knows  the  secrets  of  the  spa.  If 
we  could  talk — but  there  we  are  bound  to  secrecy,  because 
ladies  would  not  let  the  world  know  that  they  have  had  ail- 
ments— but  if  we  could  talk,  you  would  be  astonished. 
Tell  her  ladyship,  Jenny,  about  the  old  gammer  of  ninety, 
while  I  attend  to  the  company.  Yes,  sir,  coming,  sir." 

And  so  she  rattled  on,  talking  all  day  long  and  never 
tired  of  inventing  these  stories.  The  people  listened, 
laughed,  affected  disbelief,  yet  believed.  They  drank  the 
waters,  and  put  down  their  twopences,  which  went  into  a 
box  kept  for  the  doctor.  What  with  the  patients'  guineas 
and  the  daily  harvest  of  this  box  he,  at  least,  was  in  a  fair 
way  of  proving  the  truth  of  his  own  prophecy  that  every- 
body in  Lynn  would  be  enriched  by  the  grand  discovery. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SENT  TO  THE  SPA 

AT  the  outset,  though  the  pump  room  was  full  every 
morning  and  the  gardens  and  long  room  in  the  evening 
were  well  attended,  the  spa  lacked  animation.  The  music 
pleased,  the  singers  pleased,  the  coloured  lamps  dangled  in 
chains  between  the  branches  and  pleased.  Yet  the  com- 
pany was  dull ;  there  was  little  noise  of  conversation,  and 
no  mirth  or  laughter ;  the  family  groups  were  not  broken 
up ;  the  people  looked  at  each  other  and  walked  round  and 
round  in  silence ;  after  the  first  round  or  so,  when  they  had 
seen  all  the  dresses,  the  girls  yawned  and  wanted  to  sit 
down. 

The  master  of  the  ceremonies  exerted  himself  in  vain. 
He  had  hoped  so  much  and  promised  so  much  that  it  was 
sad  to  see  him  standing  in  front  of  the  orchestra  and  vainly 
endeavouring  to  find  couples  for  the  minuet.  How  should 
they  dance  a  minuet  when  there  were  no  leaders  to  begin  ? 
And  where  were  the  gentlemen  ?  Most  of  them  were 
at  the  tavern  or  the  cockpit,  drinking  and  cockfighting,  and 
making  bets.  What  was  the  use  of  calling  a  country  dance 
when  there  were  none  to  stand  up  except  ladies  and  old 
men  ?  Mr.  Prappet,  in  a  blue  silk  coat  and  embroidered 
waistcoat,  hat  under  arm,  and  flourishing  his  legs  as  a 
fencing  master  flourishes  his  arms,  fell  into  despondency. 
"  I  make  no  progress,  Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  he  said.  "  I 
cannot  begin  with  the  beaux  of  the  town  ;  they  are  nautical 
or  rustical,  to  tell  the  truth,  and  they  are  beneath  the  gen- 
try of  the  county.  If  I  begin  with  them  none  of  the 
gentry  will  condescend  either  to  dance  with  them  or  to 
follow  them,  and  so  the  character  of  the  assembly  will  be 
gone.  We  must  obey  the  laws  of  society.  We  want  rank, 
sir.  We  want  a  leader.  We  want  two  or  three  people  of 
fashion,  otherwise  these  county  families,  none  of  whom  will 
yield  precedence  to  any  other,  and  will  not  endure  that  one 

83 


84  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

should  stand  up  before  the  other,  will  never  unbend.  They 
are  jealous.  Give  me  a  leader — a  nobleman — a  baronet — a 
lady  of  quality — and  you  shall  see  how  they  will  fall  in. 
First,  the  nobility,  according  to  rank  ;  after  them,  the  gentry  ; 
then  the  town  degrees  must  be  observed.  But,  in  order  to 
observe  degrees,  sir,  we  must  have  rank  among  us.  At  pres- 
ent we  are  a  mob.  An  assembly  in  the  polite  world  should 
be  like  the  English  Constitution,  which,  Mr.  Pentecrosse, 
consists  of  Lords  and  Commons — Ladies,  and  the  wives 
and  daughters  of  commoners." 

To  me  it  was  amusing  only  to  see  the  people  in  their 
fine  dresses  marching  round  and  round  while  the  music 
played,  trailing  their  skirts  on  the  floor,  swinging  their 
hoops,  and  handling  their  fans;  for  the  lack  of  young  men, 
talking  to  the  clergy  from  the  cathedrals  and  the  colleges, 
and  casting  at  each  other  glances  of  envy  if  one  was  better 
dressed,  or  of  scorn  when  one  was  worse  dressed  than 
themselves. 

"  As  for  the  men,  Jack,"  said  Captain  Crowle,  "  I  keep 
looking  about  me.  I  try  the  pump  room  in  the  morning, 
the  ordinary  at  dinner,  the  taverns  after  dinner.  My  lad, 
there  is  not  one  among  them  all  who  is  fit  to  be  mated 
with  our  Molly.  Gentlemen,  are  they  ?  I  like  not  the 
manner  of  these  gentlemen.  They  are  mostly  young,  but 
drink  hard  already.  If  their  faces  are  red  and  swollen  at 
twenty-five,  what  will  they  be  at  forty  ?  My  girl  shall 
marry  none  of  them.  Nor  shall  she  dance  with  them. 
She  shall  stay  at  home." 

In  fact,  during  the  first  week  or  two  after  the  opening  of 
the  spa,  Molly  remained  at  home  and  was  not  seen  in  the 
long  room  or  in  the  gardens. 

The  town  was  nearly  full,  many  of  the  visitors  having  to 
put  up  with  mean  lodgings  in  the  crazy  old  courts,  of  which 
there  are  so  many  in  Lynn,  when  the  first  arrival  from  Lon- 
don took  place.  It  was  that  of  a  clergyman  named  Benja- 
min Purdon,  Artium  Magister,  formerly  of  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge.  He  was  a  man  of  insignificant  presence,  his 
figure  being  small  and  thin,  but  finely  dressed.  His  head 
was  almost  hidden  by  a  full  ecclesiastical  wig.  Apparently 
he  was  between  forty  and  fifty  years  of  age ;  he  looked 
about  him  and  surveyed  the  company  with  an  air  of  supe- 


SENT  TO  THE  SPA  85 

riority,  as  if  he  had  been  a  person  of  rank.  He  spoke 
with  a  loud,  rather  a  high  voice ;  his  face  was  pale  and  his 
hands,  which  he  displayed,  were  as  white  as  any  woman's, 
on  one  finger  he  wore  a  large  ring  with  a  stone  on  which 
were  carved  three  graces,  or  Greek  goddesses,  standing  in  a 
row.  To  some  the  ring  was  a  stumbling-block,  as  hardly 
in  accordance  with  the  profession  of  a  divine.  "  Art," 
however,  he  was  wont  to  say,  "  knows  nothing  of  Eve's 
apple  and  its  consequences.  Art  is  outside  religion ; " 
and  so  forth.  Fustian  stuff,  it  seems  to  me,  looking  back ; 
but  at  that  time  we  were  carried  away  by  the  authority  of 
the  man. 

He  came  to  us  down  the  river  by  a  tilt  boat  from  Cam- 
bridge, and  accepted,  contentedly,  quite  a  humble  lodging, 
barely  furnished  with  a  chair  and  a  flock  bed.  "  Humility  be- 
comes a  divine,"  he  said,  in  a  high,  authoritative  voice. 
"  The  room  will  serve.  A  coal  fire  and  an  open  window 
will  remove  the  mustiness.  Who  am  I  that  I  should  demand 
the  luxuries  of  Lucullus  ?  The  Cloth  should  daily  offer 
an  example.  We  must  macerate  the  flesh."  He  was 
thin,  but  he  certainly  practised  not  maceration.  "  We 
must  subdue  the  body.  To  him  who  meditates  a  hovel  be- 
comes a  palace.  There  is  an  ordinary,  you  say,  daily  at 
the  l  Crown  ' — At  two  shillings  ?  For  the  better  subjuga- 
tion of  the  carnal  appetite  it  should  have  been  one  and  six- 
pence. Nevertheless,  I  have  heard  of  the  green  goslings 
of  Lynn.  Perhaps  I  shall  now  be  privileged  to  taste  them. 
There  were  excellent  ruffs  and  reeves  when  I  was  at  col- 
lege that  came  to  the  market-place  from  the  fens  in  the 
May  time.  You  have  a  Portuguese  trade  I  am  told — in 
wine,  I  hope,  otherwise  we  are  not  likely  to  get  anything 
fit  for  a  gentleman  to  drink.  It  is,  indeed,  little  that  I  take ; 
were  it  not  for  my  infirmities,  I  should  take  none.  Your 
port,  I  hope,  is  matured.  More  sickness  is  caused  by  new 
wine  than  by  any  other  cause.  Give  me  wine  of  twenty 
years — but  that  is  beyond  hope  in  this  place.  If  it  is  three, 
four,  or  five  years  old,  I  shall  be  fortunate  beyond  my  ex- 
pectation." He  did  not  say  all  these  fine  things  at  once, 
or  to  one  person ;  but  by  bits  to  his  brother  clergyman, 
the  vicar  of  St.  Margaret's  ;  to  Captain  Crowle,  to  the 
mayor,  to  the  landlady  of  the  Crown  Inn,  to  the  ladies  in 


86  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  long  room.  "  You  see  me  as  I  am,  a  poor  scholar,  a 
humble  minister  of  the  church — servus  servorum^  to  use  the 
style  and  title  of  the  Pope  ;  one  who  despises  wealth."  Yet 
his  cassock  was  of  thick  silk  and  his  bands  were  laced.  "  1 
live  in  London  because  I  can  there  find,  when  I  want  it,  a 
lectureship  for  my  preaching,  and  a  library — that  of  Sion 
College — for  my  reading,  study,  meditation,  and  writing. 
I  leave  behind  me,  unfinished,  my  work — my  magnum  opus 
— forgive  the  infirmity  natural  to  man  of  desiring  to  live  in 
the  memory  of  men.  I  confess  that  I  look  forward  with 
pleasure  to  future  fame  :  my  4  History  of  the  Early  Councils' 
will  be  a  monument — if  I  may  be  permitted  so  to  speak  of  it 
— a  monument  of  erudition.  I  come  here  by  order  of  my 
physician.  Ladies,  this  sluggish  body,  which  gives  us  so 
much  trouble,  must  be  kept  in  health  (as  well  as  in  subjec- 
tion) if  we  would  preform  the  tasks  laid  down  for  us.  The 
waters  which  I  am  about  to  drink  will,  under  Providence, 
drive  away  those  symptoms  which  have  made  my  friends, 
rather  than  myself,  anxious.  As  for  me,  what  cause  have 
I  for  anxiety  ?  Why  should  I  not  be  ready  to  lay  down  pen 
and  book,  and  teach  no  more  ?  " 

He  was,  perhaps — though  we  must  allow  a  good  deal  to 
his  profession — too  fond  of  preaching.  He  preached  in  the 
morning  at  the  pump  room.  Holding  a  glass  of  water  to 
the  light,  he  discoursed  on  the  marvels  of  Providence  in 
concealing  sovereign  remedies  under  the  guise  of  simple 
water,  such  as  one  may  find  in  any  running  brook  to  all 
appearance,  and  yet  so  potent.  He  would  preach  in  the 
gardens.  He  would  show  the  piety  of  his  character  even 
when  taking  supper — a  cold  chicken  and  a  bottle  of  Lisbon 
— in  an  alcove  beside  the  dancing  platform.  In  this  way 
he  rapidly  acquired  a  great  reputation,  and  drew  after  him 
every  day  a  following  of  ladies ;  there  are  always  ladies  who 
desire  nothing  so  much  as  pious  talk  on  matters  of  re- 
ligion with  one  who  has  a  proper  feeling  for  the  sex,  and  is 
courteous  and  complimentary,  deferent  and  assiduous,  as 
well  as  learned,  pious,  and  eloquent.  The  good  man,  for 
his  part,  was  never  tired  of  conversing  with  these  amiable 
ladies,  especially  with  the  younger  sort;  but  I  believe 
there  were  jealousies  among  them,  each  desiring  the 
whole  undivided  man  for  herself,  which  is  not  uncom- 


SENT  TO  THE  SPA  87 

mon  even  among  ladies  of  the  strictest  profession  in 
religion. 

It  was  presently  learned  that  Mr.  Purdon  had  offered  to 
take  the  services  at  St.  Nicholas  for  a  few  weeks  in  order 
to  enable  the  curate  to  attend  the  bedside  of  a  parent.  He 
undertook  this  duty  without  asking  for  any  fee  or  pay,  a 
fact  which  greatly  increased  his  reputation.  He  continued 
the  morning  services,  now  held  in  a  well-filled  church,  and 
delivered  a  sermon  on  Sunday  morning.  Never  before  had 
the  good  people  who  sat  in  the  church  heard  discourses  of 
so  much  eloquence,  such  close  reasoning,  such  unexpected 
illustrations  ;  with  passages  so  tender  and  so  pathetic.  The 
women  wept ;  the  men  cleared  their  throats ;  the  sermons 
of  his  reverence  drew  after  him  the  whole  company,  ex- 
cept those  who  spent  their  Sunday  morning  at  the  tavern, 
and  also  excepting  the  clergymen  of  the  cathedrals  and  the 
colleges.  These,  for  some  reason,  looked  upon  him  with 
distrust. 

Among  those  who  thus  regarded  him  was  the  vicar  of 
St.  Margaret's,  the  Rev.  Mark  Gentle.  He  was,  to  begin 
with,  the  very  opposite  of  the  other  in  all  respects.  He 
lived  simply,  drinking  no  wine  ;  he  was  a  silent  man,  whose 
occasional  words  were  received  with  consideration ;  he  was 
a  great  scholar,  with  a  fine  library.  His  discourses  were  not 
understood  by  the  congregation,  but  they  were  said  to  be 
full  of  learning.  He  did  not  make  himself  agreeable  to  the 
ladies ;  he  never  talked  of  religion ;  he  never  spoke  of  his 
own  habits  or  his  own  learning.  He  was  a  tall  spare  man 
with  a  thin  face  and  a  long  nose,  of  the  kind  which 
is  said  to  accompany  a  sense  of  humour;  and  he  had  some- 
times a  curious  light  in  his  eye  like  the  flash  of  a  light  in  the 
dark. 

"  The  Reverend  Benjamin  Purdon,"  he  said,  with  such 
a  flash,  "  interests  me  greatly.  He  is  a  most  learned  per- 
son— indeed,  he  says  so,  himself.  I  quoted  a  well-known 
passage  of  a  Greek  tragedy  to  him  yesterday,  and  he  said 
that  his  Hebrew  he  left  behind  him  when  he  came  into  the 
country.  We  must  not  think  that  this  proves  anything. 
A  man's  ear  may  be  deceived.  I  offered  him  the  use  of 
my  library,  but  he  declined.  That  proves  nothing,  either, 
because  he  may  not  wish  to  read  at  present.  I  hear  that 


88  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  women  weep  when  he  preaches;  and  that  proves  noth- 
ing. Sir,  I  should  like  the  opinion  of  Sion  College,  which 
is  a  collection  of  all  the  rectors  and  vicars  of  the  city 
churches,  as  to  the  learning  of  this  ecclesiastic.  He  is, 
doubtless,  all  that  he  proclaims  himself.  But,  after  all,  that 
means  nothing.  We  shall  probably  learn  more  about  him. 
Whatever  we  learn  will,  we  may  confidently  expect,  redound 
to  his  credit,  and  increase  his  reputation." 

This  he  said  in  my  presence,  to  my  father.  "  I  know 
not,"  he  replied,  "  how  much  this  learned  theologian  pro- 
fesses, but  humility  is  not  one  of  his  virtues.  I  offered, 
meeting  him  in  the  Herb  Market  yesterday,  to  show  him 
the  school  as  a  venerable  monument  erected  for  the  sake  of 
learning  three  hundred  years  ago.  l  Pedagogue ! '  he 
answered.  *  Know  thy  place  !  *  So  he  swept  on  his  way, 
swelling  under  his  silken  cassock." 

Captain  Crowle,  however,  with  many  others,  was  greatly 
taken  with  him.  "  Jack,"  he  said,  "  the  London  clergyman 
shames  our  rusticity.  Learning  flows  from  him  with 
every  word  he  speaks.  He  makes  the  women  cry.  He  is 
full  of  pious  sentiment.  If  we  have  many  visitors  so  edify- 
ing, this  discovery  is  like  to  prove  for  all  of  us  the  road  to 
heaven  as  well  as  the  means  of  wealth." 

Alas  !  the  road  to  heaven  seldom,  so  far  as  I  understand, 
brings  the  pilgrim  within  reach  of  the  means  of  wealth. 
But  this  the  captain  could  not  understand,  because  he  had 
been  amassing  wealth  for  his  ward,  not  for  himself,  and 
therefore  knew  not  the  dangers  of  the  pursuit. 

The  Reverend  Benjamin  Purdon  was  only  a  forerunner. 
He  was  followed  by  the  rest  of  the  company — the  delectable 
company — brought  together  for  our  destruction.  I  would 
not  willingly  anticipate  the  sequel  of  these  arrivals  among 
us,  but  there  are  moments  when  I  am  fain  to  declare  a 
righteous  wrath.  As  for  revenge — but  it  would  be  idle  to 
speak  of  revenge.  When  a  man  has  taken  all  that  he  can 
devise  or  procure  in  the  way  of  revenge — bodily  pain,  ruin, 
loss  of  position,  exposure,  everything — the  first  injury  re- 
mains untouched.  This  cannot  be  undone  ;  nor  can  the  in- 
jury be  atoned  by  any  suffering  or  any  punishment.  Re- 
venge, again,  grows  more  hungry  by  what  should  satisfy  it ; 
revenge  is  never  satisfied.  Revenge  has  been  forbidden  to 


SENT  TO  THE  SPA  89 

man  because  he  cannot  be  trusted.  It  is  the  Lord's.  In 
this  case  it  was  the  Lord  who  avenged  our  cause,  and,  I 
believe,  turned  the  injury  into  a  blessing,  and  made  our 
very  loss  a  ladder  that  led  to  heaven. 

A  day  or  two  after  Mr.  Purdon's  arrival  came  a  carriage 
and  four  containing  a  very  fine  lady  indeed,  with  her  maid 
and  her  man.  She  drove  to  the  Crown,  the  people  all  look- 
ing after  her.  A  large  coat  of  arms  was  emblazoned  on 
the  door  of  her  carriage,  with  a  coronet  and  supporters ;  her 
man  was  dressed  in  a  noble  livery  of  pale  green  with  scar- 
let epaulettes.  A  little  crowd  gathered  round  the  door  of 
the  Crown  while  the  footman  held  the  door  open  and  the 
lady  spoke  with  the  landlord. 

"  Sir,"  she  said,  inclining  her  head  graciously  and  smiling 
upon  the  crowd,  "  I  have  been  directed  to  ask  for  thy  good 
offices  in  procuring  a  lodging.  I  am  a  simple  person,  but  a 
body  must  have  cleanliness  and  room  to  turn  about." 

"  Madam,"  said  the  landlord,  "  there  is  but  one  lodging 
in  the  town  which  is  worthy  of  your  ladyship.  I  have, 
myself,  across  the  market-place,  a  house  which  contains 
three  or  four  rooms.  These  I  would  submit  to  your  lady- 
ship's consideration." 

This  was  an  excellent  beginning.  The  lady  took  the 
rooms  at  the  rent  proposed  and  without  haggling;  there 
were  two  bedrooms,  for  herself  and  her  maid,  and  one  room 
in  which  she  could  sit;  the  man  found  lodgings  elsewhere. 
It  appeared  from  his  statement  that  his  mistress  was  none 
other  than  the  Lady  Anastasia,  widow  of  the  late  Lord 
Langston,  and  sister  of  the  living  Earl  of  Selsey.  It  was, 
therefore,  quite  true,  as  Sam  Semple  had  announced,  that 
persons  of  quality  were  coming  to  the  spa. 

The  Lady  Anastasia,  at  this  time  was  about  twenty-six 
years  of  age,  or  perhaps  thirty,  a  handsome  woman  still, 
though  no  longer  in  the  first  flush  of  her  beauty.  Her  dress, 
as  well  as  her  manner,  proclaimed  the  woman  of  fashion. 
I  confess  that,  as  a  simple  sailor,  one  who  could  not  pre- 
tend to  be  a  gentleman  and  had  never  before  seen  a  woman 
of  rank,  much  less  conversed  with  one,  I  was  quite  ready, 
after  she  had  honoured  me  with  a  few  words  of  condescen- 
sion and  kindness,  to  become  her  slave.  She  could  bear 
herself  with  the  greatest  dignity  and  even  severity,  as  cer- 


9o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

tain  ladies  discovered  who  presumed  upon  her  kindness  and 
assumed  familiarity.  But  while  she  could  freeze  with  a 
frown  and  humiliate  with  a  look,  she  could,  and  did,  the 
next  moment  subdue  the  most  obdurate,  and  disarm  the 
most  resentful  with  her  gracious  smile  and  with  her  voice, 
which  was  the  softest,  the  most  musical  and  the  most  mov- 
ing that  you  can  imagine.  She  had  been  a  widow  for  two 
or  three  years,  and,  having  now  put  off  the  weeds,  she  was 
rejoicing  at  the  freedom  which  the  world  allows  to  a  young 
widow  of  fortune  and  of  rank. 

You  may  be  sure  that  the  news  of  her  arrival  was  speed- 
ily spread  through  the  town.  On  the  first  night  Lady 
Anastasia  remained  in  her  lodgings  ;  but  the  ringers  of  St. 
Margaret's  gave  her  a  welcome  with  the  bells,  and  in  the 
morning  the  horns  saluted  her  with  a  tune  and  a  flourish  un- 
der her  windows.  To  the  ringers  she  sent  her  thanks, 
with  money  for  a  supper  and  plenty  of  beer,  and  to  the 
horns  she  sent  out  a  suitable  present  of  money,  also  with 
thanks. 

Later  on,  a  deputation,  consisting  of  the  mayor  in  his 
robes  and  his  gold  chain,  accompanied  by  the  aldermen  in 
their  gowns,  the  vicar  in  his  cassock  and  gown,  the  doctor 
in  his  best  velvet  coat  and  his  biggest  wig,  and  Captain 
Crowle  in  his  Sunday  suit  of  black  cloth,  waited  on  the 
Lady  Anastasia.  They  marched  along  the  street  from  the 
town  hall,  preceded  by  the  beadle  in  his  green  coat  with 
brass  buttons  and  laced  hat,  carrying  the  borough  mace,  all 
to  do  honour  to  this  distinguished  visitor. 

They  were  received  by  the  lady  reclining  on  the  sofa. 
Beside  her  stood  her  maid  in  a  white  apron  and  a  white 
cap.  At  the  door  stood  her  man  in  his  green  livery — very 
fine.  As  for  the  Lady  Anastasia's  dress,  I  will  attempt  on 
another  occasion  a  more  particular  description.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  it  was  rich  and  splendid.  The  reception  which 
she  accorded  to  the  deputation  was  most  gracious  and  con- 
descending, in  this  respect  surpassing  anything  that  they 
had  expected.  They  looked,  indeed,  for  the  austerity  and 
dignity  of  rank,  and  were  received  by  the  affability  which 
renders  rank  wherein  it  is  found,  admired  and  respected. 
Indeed,  whatever  I  shall  have  to  relate  concerning  this  lady, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  that  she  possessed  the  art  of  at- 


SENT  TO  THE  SPA  91 

trading  all  kinds  of  people,  of  compelling  their  submission 
to  her  slightest  wishes  and  of  commanding  their  respectful 
affection.  So  much  I  must  concede. 

The  mayor  bade  her  welcome  to  the  spa.  "  Madam/' 
he  said,  "  this  town  until  yesterday  was  but  a  seaport,  and 
we  ourselves  for  the  most  part  merchants  and  sailors.  We 
are  not  people  of  fashion  j  we  do  not  call  ourselves  cour- 
tiers ;  but  you  will  find  us  honest.  And  we  hope  that  you 
will  believe  in  our  honesty  when  we  venture,  with  all  re- 
spect, to  declare  ourselves  greatly  honoured  by  this  visit  of 
your  ladyship.  " 

"  Indeed,  worshipful  sir,  and  reverend  sir — and  you, 
gentlemen,  I  am  grateful  for  your  kind  words.  I  am  here 
only  in  the  pursuit  of  health.  I  want  nothing  more,  believe 
me,  but  to  drink  your  sovereign  waters — of  which  my 
physician  speaks  most  highly — and  when  my  health  allows 
me,  to  attend  your  church." 

"  We  hope  to  offer  your  ladyship  more  than  the  pump 
room,"  the  mayor  continued.  "  We  have  devised,  in 
our  humble  way,  rooms  for  the  entertainment  of  the  com- 
pany with  music  and  gardens,  and  we  hope  to  have  an 
assembly  for  dancing  in  the  long  room.  They  are  not 
such  entertainments  as  your  ladyship  is  accustomed  to 
adorn,  but  such  as  they  are,  we  shall  be  deeply  honoured  if 
you  will  condescend  to  join  them.  You  will  find  the  gen- 
try, and  their  ladies,  of  the  county  and  others  not  unworthy 
of  your  ladyship's  acquaintance." 

"  Sir,  I  accept  your  invitation  with  great  pleasure.  These 
gaieties  are,  indeed  unexpected.  I  look  forward,  gentle- 
men, to  making  the  acquaintance,  before  many  days,  of 
your  ladies  as  well." 

So  she  rose  and  dropped  a  curtsey,  while  her  man  threw 
open  the  door  and  the  deputation  withdrew. 

The  doctor  remained  behind. 

"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  you  have  been  ordered — advised 
— by  your  physician  to  try  the  waters  of  our  spa.  Permit 
me,  as  the  only  physician  of  the  town,  an  unworthy  member 
of  that  learned  college,  to  take  charge  of  your  health  during 
your  stay.  Your  ladyship  will  allow  me  to  feel  your  pulse. 
Humph  !  It  beats  strong — a  bounding  pulse — as  we  of 
the  profession  say.  A  bounding  pulse.  To  be  sure  your 


92  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

ladyship  is  in  the  heyday  of  life,  with  youth  and  strength. 
A  bounding  pulse.  Some  of  my  brethren  might  be  alarmed 
as  at  febrile  indications  ;  they  would  bleed  you — even  ad 
plenum  rivum— forgive  the  Latin.  For  my  own  part  I 
laugh  at  these  precautions.  I  find  in  the  strength  of  the 
pulse  nothing  but  the  ardour  of  youth.  I  see  no  necessity 
for  reduction  of  strength  by  blood  letting.  Your  ladyship 
will  perhaps  detail  the  symptoms  for  which  this  visit  to  the 
spa  was  ordered." 

The  lady  obeyed. 

"  These  symptoms, "  said  the  doctor,  "  are  grave.  As  yet 
they  are  menacing  only.  Nature  has  given  warning. 
Nature  opens  her  book  so  that  we  who  know  her  lan- 
guage may  read.  We  meet  her  warnings  by  sharp  action. 
Your  ladyship  will,  therefore,  while  continuing  the  course 
recommended  by  my  learned  brother,  take  one  glass  of 
the  water  daily ;  in  the  morning,  before  breakfast, 
fasting.  Each  dose  must  contain  seven  ounces  and  six 
drachms.  I  shall  have  the  honour  to  visit  your  ladyship 
daily,  and  we  will  regulate  the  treatment  according  to  the 
operation  of  the  water." 

"And  must  I  give  up  the  innocent  pleasures  offered  me 
by  your  friends,  doctor  ?  Surely,  you  will  not  be  so  cruel." 

"  By  no  means,  madam.  Partake  of  all — of  all — in 
moderation.  Cards  are  good,  if  you  like  them.  Dancing, 
if  you  like  it — with  your  symptoms  you  must,  above  all 
things,  nourish  the  body  and  keep  the  mind  in  cheerful- 
ness." 

The  doctor  withdrew  and  proceeded  to  relate  to  the 
pump  room  some  particulars,  with  embellishments,  of  his 
interview  with  the  Lady  Anastasia. 

"  Nothing,"  he  said,  "  can  be  imagined  more  gracious 
than  her  manner.  It  is  at  once  dignified  and  modest.  '  I 
trust  myself  entirely  to  your  hands,'  she  said.  What  an 
example  to  patients  of  lower  rank !  1 1  rely  entirely  on 
your  skill  and  knowledge,'  she  added.  It  should  be  a 
lesson  for  all.  I  confess  that  it  is  gratifying  even  though 
the  compliment  was  not  undeserved,  and  the  confidence  is 
not  misplaced.  We  may  look  for  her  ladyship  in  the  long 
room  this  evening.  I  hope  to  present  to  her  many  of  the 
ladies  of  the  company.  It  is  a  great  thing  for  the  visitors 


HE   PRESENTED   A    GENTLEMAN,    THE    SON    OF   A   NORFOLK    SQL  IRE. 


SENT  TO  THE  SPA  93 

and  patients  of  the  spa,  that  this  accession  of  rank  and  fash- 
ion has  arrived.  Her  beauty  will  prove  more  attractive  to 
the  gentlemen  than  the  cockpit  and  the  tavern  ;  her  man- 
ners and  her  dress  will  be  the  admiration  of  the  ladies. 
She  will  lead  in  the  dance,  she  will  be  queen  of  the  spa. 
The  widow  of  the  right  honourable  the  Lord  Langston,  the 
daughter  and  the  sister  of  the  right  honourable  the  Earl  of 
Selsey  " — he  rolled  out  the  titles  as  if  he  could  not  have  too 
much  of  them  or  too  many — "  has  come  among  us.  We 
will  restore  her  to  health  by  means  of  our  spa ;  she  will 
instruct  our  young  folk  in  the  manners  of  the  polite 
world." 

In  the  evening  the  lady  came  to  the  long  room  soon 
after  the  music  commenced.  Mr.  Prappet,  bowing  low, 
invited  her  to  honour  the  evening  by  dancing  a  min- 
uet. He  presented  a  gentleman,  the  son  of  a  Norfolk 
squire,  who,  with  many  blushes,  being  still  young,  led 
out  this  lady,  all  jewels,  silk,  ribbons,  and  patches,  and  with 
such  grace  as  he  could  command,  performed  the  stately 
dance  of  the  fashionable  assembly. 

This  done,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies  presented  another 
gentleman,  and  her  ladyship  condescended  to  a  second  dance 
— after  which  she  retired  and  sat  down.  The  first  gentle- 
man then  danced  with  another  lady ;  the  second  gentleman 
succeeded  him,  and  dance  followed  dance.  Mr.  Prappet 
presented  to  Lady  Anastasia  those  of  the  ladies  who  be- 
longed to  the  gentry,  and  she  was  presently  surrounded  by 
a  court  or  company,  with  whom  she  discoursed  pleasantly 
and  graciously.  The  spa  had  found  a  leader ;  the  assembly 
was  no  longer  frigid  and  constrained ;  everybody  talked  and 
everybody  laughed ;  the  family  groups  were  broken  up ; 
none  of  the  younger  gentlemen  deserted  the  assembly  for 
the  cockpit ;  and  when  the  country  dance  began  and  Lady 
Anastasia  led,  dancing  down  the  middle,  taking  hands  and 
freely  mixing  with  ladies  who  had  no  pretensions  to  family, 
being  perhaps  the  daughters  of  merchants,  and  those  in  Lynn 
itself,  the  barriers  were  broken  down,  and  without  setting 
themselves  apart  on  account  of  family  pride,  the  whole 
company  gave  itself  up  to  pleasure.  When  the  music 
ceased,  there  was  a  run  upon  the  supper  tables,  and  you 
could  hear  nothing  but  the  drawing  of  corks,  the  clicking 


94  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

of  knives  and  forks,  the  music  of  pleasant  talk,  and  the 
laughter  of  girls.  When,  at  midnight,  the  Lady  Anastasia 
called  for  her  chair,  a  dozen  young  gentlemen  sprang  up  to 
escort  her  home,  walking  beside  the  chair  to  her  lodgings, 
and  bowing  low  as  she  ran  up  the  steps  of  her  house. 

The  next  arrival  from  London  was  a  person  of  less  con- 
sequence. He  was  quite  an  old  gentleman,  who  was 
brought,  it  appeared,  by  easy  stages  in  a  post-chaise.  The 
roughness  of  the  road,  especially  towards  the  end,  had 
shaken  him  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was  unable  even  to 
get  out  of  the  chaise,  and  was  carried  into  the  house, 
where  they  found  him  a  lodging  and  put  him  to  bed.  His 
man  told  the  people  that  this  was  Sir  Harry  Malyns,  a  bar- 
onet and  country  gentleman,  whose  life  was  wholly  devoted 
to  the  pleasures  of  town.  Those  who  had  seen  the  with- 
ered old  anatomy  carried  out  of  his  carriage  laughed  at  the 
thought  of  this  ancient  person  still  devoted  to  the  pleasures 
of  the  town.  "  Nay,"  said  the  varlet,  grinning,  "  but  wait 
till  you  see  him  dressed.  Wait  till  he  has  passed  through 
my  hands.  You  think  he  is  at  his  last  gasp.  Indeed,  I 
thought  so  myself  when  I  gave  him  his  sack  posset  and  put 
him  to  bed,  but  he  will  recover.  Sir  Harry  is  not  so  old 
but  he  can  still  bear  some  fatigues."  And,  indeed,  you 
may  imagine  the  surprise  of  those  who  had  seen  him  the 
day  before,  when,  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon, 
Sir  Harry  came  out  of  the  house  and  walked  along  the 
street.  In  place  of  a  decrepit  old  man  they  saw  the  most 
gallant  and  the  most  bravely  dressed  beau  that  you  can  im- 
agine. He  appeared  from  the  back  and  from  either  side — 
where  his  face  was  not  visible — a  young  gentleman  in  the 
height  of  fashion.  To  be  sure  there  was  a  certain  unstead- 
iness of  gait,  and  if  his  foot  struck  against  an  uneven  piece 
of  pavement  you  might  perceive  his  knees  knocking  to- 
gether and  his  legs  beginning  to  tremble.  But  he  rallied 
bravely,  and  went  on.  He  carried  his  hat  under  his  arm,  a 
coloured  cane  dangled  from  his  right  wrist,  his  left  hand 
carried  a  gold  snuffbox  with  a  lady  painted  on  the  outside. 
He  walked  with  an  affected  step,  such  as  we  call  mincing, 
and  when  he  came  to  the  pump  room  he  entered  it  upon  his 
toes,  with  his  knees  bent  and  his  arms  extended.  For  an 
example  of  the  manners  which  mean  nothing  but  affecta- 


SENT  TO  THE  SPA  95 

tion  and  pretence,  there  was  no  one  at  the  spa  who  could 
compare  with  old  Sir  Harry. 

The  pump  room  was  tolerably  full  of  people  who  came 
in  the  forenoon  to  talk.  Sir  Harry,  pretending  not  to  ob- 
serve the  curiosity  with  which  he  was  regarded,  introduced 
himself  to  a  gentleman  by  means  of  his  snuffbox.  "  Sir," 
he  said,  "  have  we  any  company  at  the  spa  ?  "  He  looked 
round  the  room  as  if  disdainfully.  "  Fine  women,  of 
course,  we  have.  Norfolk  is  famous  for  fine  women  and 
fat  turkeys  ;  but  as  for  company  ?  " 

"  Sir,  we  have  many  of  the  country  gentry  of  Norfolk 
and  Lincolnshire ;  we  have  divines  from  the  cathedral 
cities,  and  scholars  from  Cambridge." 

"  But  of  company — such  as  a  gentleman  may  call  com- 
pany ?  " 

"  Why,  sir,"  said  the  other,  himself  a  plain  gentleman  of 
Norfolk,  "  if  you  are  not  satisfied  with  what  you  see, 
you  had  better  find  some  other  place  for  your  exalted  so- 
ciety." 

"  Pray,  sir,  forgive  me.  I  am  but  recently  arrived  from 
London.  No  doubt  the  assembly  is  entirely  composed  of 
good  families.  I  am  myself  but  a  country  gentleman  and 
a  simple  baronet.  I  used  the  word  company  in  a  sense 
confined  to  town." 

"  Well,  sir,  since  you  are  no  better  than  the  rest  of  us, 
I  may  tell  you  that  we  have  among  us  a  certain  lady  of  rank 
— the  Lady  Anastasia  Langston " 

"  Pray,  sir,  pray — excuse  me.  Not  a  4  certain '  Lady 
Anastasia.  If  you  have  the  Lady  Anastasia,  you  have,  let 
me  tell  you,  the  very  pearl  of  highest  fashion.  If  she  is 
here,  you  are  indeed  fortunate.  One  woman  of  her  beauty, 
grace,  wealth,  rank,  and  goodness  is  enough  to  make  the 
fortune  of  the  spa.  Bath  worships  her;  Tunbridge  prays 
for  her  return ;  there  will  be  lamentation  when  it  is  known 
that  she  has  deserted  these  places  for  the  newly  discovered 
waters  of  Lynn." 

"  Indeed,  sir,  we  ought  to  feel  greatly  honoured." 

"  You  ought,  sir.  Your  ladies  of  Norfolk  will  learn 
more  from  her,  as  concerns  the  great  world  and  the  world 
of  fashion,  in  a  week  than  they  could  learn  at  the  assembly 
of  Norwich  in  a  year.  The  Lady  Anastasia  carries  about 


96  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

with  her  the  air  which  stamps  the  woman  of  the  highest 
fashion.  She  walks  like  a  goddess,  she  talks  like  an  angel, 
and  she  smiles  like  a  nymph — if  there  are  such  nymphs, 
woodland  or  ocean  nymphs — who  wear  hoops,  put  on 
patches,  build  up  headdresses,  and  brandish  fans." 

There  was  another  whose  arrival  from  London  caused  no 
ringing  of  bells  and  salutations  by  the  horns.  This  was  a 
certain  Colonel  Lanyon,  who  wore  the  king's  scarlet,  having 
served  and  received  promotion  in  the  king's  armies.  He 
was  about  forty  years  of  age ;  a  big,  blustering  fellow  who 
rolled  his  shoulders  as  he  walked  along  and  took  the  wall 
of  everybody.  He  began,  as  he  continued,  by  spending 
his  time  in  the  card  room,  at  the  cockpit,  at  the  badger 
drawing,  bull  baiting,  horse  racing,  cudgel  playing — wher- 
ever sport  was  going  on  or  betting  to  be  made.  He  drank 
the  hardest,  he  played  the  deepest,  he  swore  the  loudest, 
he  was  always  ready  to  take  offence.  Yet  he  was  tolerated 
and  even  liked,  because  he  was  good  company.  He  sang 
songs,  he  told  anecdotes,  he  had  seen  service  in  the  West 
Indies  and  in  many  other  places,  he  had  passed  through 
many  adventures ;  he  assumed,  and  successfully,  the  manner 
of  a  good  sportsman — free  with  his  money,  who  played  deep, 
paid  his  debts  of  honour  at  once,  and  expected  to  be  paid  in 
like  manner.  Now  the  gentlemen  of  Norfolk  esteem  a 
good  sportsman  above  all  things,  and  readily  pass  over  any 
little  faults  in  a  man  who  pleases  them  in  this  respect.  As 
for  the  ladies,  the  colonel  made  no  attempt  to  win  their  good 
graces,  and  was  never  seen  either  in  the  long  room  or  the 
gardens  or  the  assembly. 


CHAPTER  X 

"  OF    THE    NICEST    HONOUR  " 

LAST  of  all  came  the  prince  of  this  company,  whom  I 
now  know  was  the  arch  villain,  Lord  Fylingdale  himself. 

We  were  prepared  for  his  arrival  by  a  letter  from  Sam 
Semple.  He  wrote  to  the  doctor  informing  him  that  my 
lord  was  about  to  undertake  his  journey  to  Lynn,  that  he 
hoped  to  complete  it  in  three  days,  and  that  he  would  prob- 
ably arrive  on  such  a  day.  He  further  stated  that  the  best 
rooms  at  the  Crown  Inn  were  to  be  engaged,  and  that  he, 
himself,  namely,  Sam,  would  accompany  his  lordship  in  the 
capacity  of  private  secretary  and,  as  he  put  it,  confidential 
companion.  To  write  such  a  letter  to  the  doctor  was  to 
proclaim  it  as  from  the  house-top.  In  fact,  the  good  doctor 
made  haste  to  read  it  aloud  in  the  pump  room  and  to  com- 
municate the  news  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen. 

Sir  Harry,  being  asked  if  he  knew  his  lordship,  shook 
his  head.  "  We  of  the  gay  world, "  he  said,  speaking  as  a 
young  man,  "do  not  commonly  include  Lord  Fylingdale 
among  the  beaux  and  bucks.  There  is  in  him  a  certain 
haughtiness  which  forbids  the  familiarities  common  among 
ourselves." 

"  Is  he,  then,  a  saint  ?  " 

"Why,  sir,  I  know  nothing  about  saints.  There  are 
none,  I  believe,  among  my  friends.  I  have,  however,  seen 
Lord  Fylingdale  on  the  race-course  at  Newmarket,  and  I 
have  seen  him  at  the  tables  when  the  game  of  hazard  was 
played.  And  I  have  never  yet  seen  saint  or  angel  at  either 
place." 

"  Then  how  is  Lord  Fylingdale  distinguished  ?  " 

"Partly  by  his  rank,  but  that  is  not  everything.  Partly 
by  his  wealth,  but  that  is  not  everything.  Partly  by  his 
superiority,  which  is  undoubted.  For  he  has  none  of  the 
foibles  of  other  men  ;  if  he  sits  down  to  a  bottle  he  does  not 
call  for  t'other ;  if  he  plays  cards  he  wins  or  he  loses  with 

97 


98  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

equal  composure,  caring  little  which  it  may  turn  out ;  his 
name  has  never  been  mentioned  with  that  of  any  woman. 
Yet  the  world  is  eager  after  scandal,  and  would  rejoice  to 
whisper  something  concerning  him." 

"  He  will  condescend  to  despise  us,  then, "  said  the 
vicar  of  St.  Margaret's,  "  seeing  that  our  world  is  wholly 
addicted  to  sport,  and  takes  fortune  with  heat  and  pas- 
sion." 

"  Not  so,  reverend  sir.  He  will,  perhaps,  attend  our 
entertainments,  but  his  mind  is  set  above  such  vanities. 
As  for  me,  sir,  I  own  that  I  live  for  them.  But  my  Lord 
Fylingdale  lives  for  other  things." 

"  He  is  ambitious,  perhaps.  Has  he  thoughts  of  place 
and  of  the  ministry  ?  " 

Sir  Harry  took  snuff.  "  Pardon  me,  sir.  The  world 
talks.  I  love  the  world,  but  I  do  not  always  talk  with  the 
world.  It  may  be  that  there  are  reasons  of  state  which 
bring  him  to  this  neighbourhood.  I  say  nothing."  But 
he  pointed  over  his  shoulder  and  nodded  his  head  with 
meaning. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Houghton,  the  seat  of  Sir  Rob- 
ert Walpole,  then  the  minister  all  powerful,  is  but  a  few  miles 
from  Lynn.  The  crowd  heard  and  whispered,  and  the 
rumour  ran  that  under  pretence  of  seeking  health,  Lord 
Fylingdale  was  coming  to  Lynn  in  order  .  .  .  here 
the  voice  dropped,  and  the  rest  fell  into  the  nearest  ear. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Purdon  was  more  eloquent.  "  What  ?  " 
he  cried, "  Lord  Fylingdale  coming  here  ?  Lord  Fylingdale  ? 
Why,  what  can  his  lordship  want  at  Lynn  ?  " 

"We  have  heard  that  he  is  sent  here  to  drink  the 
waters." 

Mr.  Purdon  shook  his  head  wisely.  "  It  may  be.  I  do 
not  say  that.  .  .  .  There  is  perhaps  gout  in  the  fam- 
ily. .  .  .  But  with  a  personage — a  personage,  I  say, 
there  are  many  reasons  which  prompt  to  action.  How- 
ever  " 

"  Pravi  sir>  if  you  know  him,  inform  us  further  as  to  his 
lordship." 

"  Madam,  I  was  his  tutor.  I  accompanied  him  on  the 
grand  tour.  I  therefore  knew  him  intimately  when  he  was 
a  young  man  of  eighteen.  I  have  been  privileged  with  his 


"OF  THE  NICEST  HONOUR"  99 

condescension  since  that  time.  He  is  at  once  a  scholar,  a 
critic,  and  a  connoisseur;  he  hath  a  pretty  taste  in  verse 
and  can  discourse  of  medals  and  of  cameos.  He  is  also  a 
man  of  fashion  who  can  adorn  an  assembly  just  as  he  adorns, 
when  it  pleases  him,  the  House  of  Lords.  Yet  not  a 
fribble  like  certain  persons  " — he  looked  at  Sir  Harry — "  nor 
a  beau,  nor  a  profligate  Mohock.  Pride  he  has,  I  allow. 
What  do  you  expect  of  a  man  with  such  birth  and  such 
ancestry?  His  pride  becomes  him.  Lesser  men  can  be 
familiar.  He  is  said  to  be  cold  towards  the  fair  sex — I  can 
contradict  that  calumny.  Not  coldness  but  fastidiousness 
is  his  fault.  '  My  Lord,'  I  have  said  to  him  often,  c  to  ex- 
pect the  genius  of  Sappho,  the  beauty  of  Helen,  and  the 
charms  of  Cleopatra,  is  to  ask  too  much.  Not  once  in  an 
age  is  such  a  woman  created.  Be  content,  therefore,'  I 
ventured  to  add.  c  Genius  will  smile  upon  you  ;  loveliness 
will  languish  for  you ;  dignity  will  willingly  humble  her- 
self at  your  feet.'  But  I  have  spoken  in  vain.  He  is 
fastidious.  Ladies,  if  I  were  young ;  if  I  were  a  noble  lord ; 
if  I  were  rich ;  it  is  to  Norfolk,  believe  me,  that  I  should 
fly,  contented  with  the  conquests  awaiting  me  here.  This 
is  truly  a  land  of  freedom  where  to  be  in  chains  and  slavery 
is  the  happy  lot." 

This  was  the  kind  of  talk  with  which  we  were  prepared 
to  await  the  coming  of  this  paladin. 

He  arrived.  Late  in  the  day  about  seven  o'clock,  there 
came  into  the  town,  side  by  side,  his  lordship's  running 
footmen.  They  were  known  by  the  white  holland  waist- 
coat and  drawers  belonging  to  their  calling,  the  white  thread 
stockings,  white  caps,  and  blue  satin  fringed  with  velvet. 
In  their  hands  they  carried  a  porter's  staff  tipped  with  a 
silver  ball,  in  which  I  suppose  was  carried  a  lemon.  The 
rogues  trotted  in,  without  haste,  for  the  roads  were  bad 
behind  them,  and  placed  themselves  at  the  door  of  the 
Crown  Inn,  one  on  each  side.  The  landlord  stood  in  the 
open  door,  his  wife  behind  him;  and  speedily  half  the 
town  gathered  together  to  witness  the  arrival  of  the  great 
man. 

His  carriage  came  lumbering  heavily  along  the  narrow 
streets.  Within,  beside  his  lordship,  sat,  as  grand  as  you 
please,  our  poet  Sam  Semple.  It  was  admirable  to  remark 


ioo  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  air  with  which  he  sprang  out  of  the  carriage,  offered 
his  arm  for  the  descent  of  his  patron,  followed  him  into  the 
inn,  demanded  the  best  rooms,  ordered  a  noble  supper,  and 
looked  about  him  with  the  manner  of  a  stranger  and  a 
gentleman,  as  if  the  host  of  the  "  Crown  "  had  never  boxed 
his  ears  for  an  idle  good-for-nothing  who  could  not  even 
make  out  a  bill  aright.  The  bells  were  set  ringing  for  Lord 
Fylingdale  as  they  had  been  for  the  Lady  Anastasia;  in  the 
morning  the  horns  saluted  the  illustrious  visitor;  and  about 
eleven  o'clock,  when  his  lordship  was  dressed,  the  mayor 
and  aldermen,  preceded  by  the  bearer  of  the  mace  and  ac- 
companied by  the  clergy  of  the  town  and  the  doctor,  offered 
a  visit  of  welcome  and  congratulation. 

They  retired  overwhelmed  by  the  condescension  of  their 
guests.  "  One  does  not  expect,"  said  the  doctor,  "  the 
gracious  sweetness  of  a  lady ;  but  we  received  every  possi- 
ble mark  of  politeness  and  of  consideration.  As  for  the 
mayor,  his  lordship  treated  him  as  if  he  were  the  lord 
mayor  of  London  itself.  And  for  my  own  part,  when  I 
remained  on  the  departure  of  the  rest,  I  can  only  say  that 
I  was  overwhelmed  with  the  confidence  bestowed  upon  me. 
There  has  been  talk  in  this  pump  room,"  he  looked  around 
him,  "  of  other  reasons — reasons  of  state — and  of  pretended 
sickness.  The  company  may  take  it  from  me — from  ME,  I 
say — that  whatever  may  be  the  reasons  of  state,  it  is  not 
for  us  to  offer  any  opinion  as  to  those  reasons,  the  symptoms 
which  have  been  imparted  to  me  in  confidence  are  such 
that  a  visit  to  the  spa  is  imperative ;  and  treatment,  with 
drinking  of  the  waters,  is  absolutely  necessary." 

"This  Lord  Fylingdale,  Jack,"  said  Captain  Crowle, 
who  was  one  of  the  deputation,  "  is  a  mighty  fine  gentle- 
man, well  favoured  and  well  mannered.  I  have  not  yet 
learned  more  about  him.  They  say  at  the  pump  room 
many  things.  He  received  us  with  condescension  and  was 
good  enough  to  promise  attendance  at  our  assembly,  though, 
he  said,  these  occasions  do  not  afford  him  so  much  pleasure 
as  other  pursuits.  'Tis  a  fine  thing,  Jack,  to  be  a  noble- 
man and  to  have  so  much  dignity  ;  since  I  have  spoken 
with  the  Lady  Anastasia  I  find  myself  trying  to  look  con- 
descending. But  the  quarter-deck  is  one  place  and  the 
House  of  Lords  is  another.  The  captain  of  a  ship,  Jack, 


"OF  THE  NICEST  HONOUR"  101 

if  he  were  affable,  would  very  quickly  get  knocked  o*  the 
head  by  his  crew." 

Meantime  Sam  Semple  showed  good  sense  in  going  round 
to  visit  his  old  friends.  Among  others  he  called  upon  Cap- 
tain Crowle,  to  whom  he  behaved,  with  singular  discern- 
ment, in  such  a  way  as  would  please  the  old  man.  For  on 
board  ship  we  like  a  cheerful  sailor,  one  who  takes  punish- 
ment without  snivelling,  and  bears  no  malice  thereafter. 
A  ship  is  like  a  boys'  school,  where  a  flogging  wipes  out 
the  offence,  and  master  and  boy  become  good  friends  after 
it,  whatever  the  heinousness  of  the  crime. 

"  Sir,"  said  Sam,  standing  before  the  captain,  modestly, 
"  you  will  understand,  first  of  all,  that  I  am  reminded,  in 
coming  here,  of  the  last  time  that  I  saw  you." 

"  Ay,  my  lad,  I  have  not  forgotten."  The  captain  did 
not  rise  from  his  armchair,  nor  did  he  offer  Sam  his  hand. 
He  waited  to  learn  in  what  spirit  the  young  man  approached 
him. 

"  Believe  me,  sir,"  said  Sam,  "  I  am  not  unmindful  of  a 
certain  lesson,  rough  perhaps,  but  deserved.  The  presump- 
tion of  youth,  ignorance  of  the  world,  ignorance  of  the  prize 
to  which  I  aspired,  may  be  my  excuse — if  any  were  needed. 
I  was  then  both  young  and  ignorant."  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  Sam  possessed  the  gift  of  words.  "  Indeed,  I 
was  too  young  to  understand  the  humble  nature  of  my  origin 
and  my  position,  and  too  ignorant  to  understand  my  own 
presumption.  Therefore,  sir,  before  I  say  anything  more, 
I  beg  your  forgiveness.  That  presumption,  sir,  can  never, 
I  assure  you,  be  repeated.  I  know,  at  least,  my  own  place, 
and  the  distance  between  a  certain  young  lady  and  myself." 

"  Why,  my  lad,"  said  the  captain,  "  since  you  talk  in  that 
modest  way,  I  bear  no  malice — none.  Wherefore,  here  is 
my  hand  in  token  of  forgiveness.  And  so,  on  that  head  we 
will  speak  no  more." 

He  extended  his  hand,  which  Sam  took,  still  in  humble 
attitude. 

"  I  am  deeply  grateful,  captain,"  he  said.  "  You  will, 
perhaps,  before  long  find  out  how  grateful  I  can  be." 
Time,  in  fact,  did  show  the  depth  of  his  gratitude.  "  Well, 
sir,  I  am  now  in  high  favour  with  my  Lord  Fylingdale, 
on  whom  you  waited  this  morning." 


102  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  I  hope  his  favour  will  end  in  a  snug  place,  Sam. 
Forget  not  the  main  point.  Well,  your  patron  is  a  goodly 
and  a  proper  man  to  look  at.  Sit  down,  Sam.  Take  a 
glass  of  home  brewed — you  must  want  it  after  the  ale  of 
London,  which  is,  so  far  as  I  remember,  but  poor  stuff. 
Well,  now,  about  your  noble  lord.  He  is  a  married  man, 
I  suppose  ?  " 

"  Unfortunately,  no.     He  is  difficult  to  please." 

"  Ah  !  and,  I  suppose,  like  most  young  noblemen,  some- 
thing of  a  profligate — eh,  Sam  r  Or  a  gambler,  likely  !  one 
who  has  ruined  many  innocents.  Eh  ? "  The  captain 
looked  mighty  cunning. 

"Sir,  sir!  "  Sam  spread  out  his  hands  in  expostulation. 
"  You  distress  me.  Lord  Fylingdale  a  profligate  ? 
Lord  Fylingdale  a  gambler  ?  Lord  Fylingdale  a  libertine  ? 
Sir  ! — Captain  Crowle  !  "  He  spoke  very  earnestly  ;  the 
tears  came  into  his  eyes ;  he  laid  his  hand  upon  the  cap- 
tain's knee.  "  Sir,  I  assure  you,  he  is,  on  the  contrary, 
the  best  of  men.  There  is  no  more  virtuous  nobleman  in 
the  country.  My  tongue  is  tied  as  his  lordship's  secretary, 
else  would  I  tell  of  good  deeds.  Truly,  his  right  hand 
knoweth  not  what  his  left  hand  doeth.  My  lord  is  all 
goodness." 

"  Ay,  ay  ?     This  is  good  hearing  indeed." 

"  Lord  Fylingdale  a  gambler  ?  Why  he  may  take  part 
at  a  table  j  but  a  gambler  ?  No  man  is  less  a  gambler. 
What  doth  it  matter  to  him  if  he  wins  or  loses  a  little  ? 
He  neither  desires  to  win,  nor  does  he  fear  to  lose.  You 
will,  I  dare  say,  see  him  in  the  card  room,  just  to  encourage 
the  spirit  of  the  company." 

"  A  very  noble  gentleman,  indeed."  The  captain  drank 
a  glass  of  his  home  brewed,  "  a  very  noble  gentleman 
truly.  Go  on,  Samuel." 

"  Also,  he  is  one  who,  captain,  if  there  is  one  thing  in 
the  world  that  my  patron  abhors,  it  is  the  man  who  ruins 
innocency  and  leaves  his  victim  to  starve.  No,  sir;  his 
lordship  is  a  man  of  the  nicest  honour  and  the  highest 
principle." 

"  He  has  a  secretary  who  is  grateful,  at  least,"  observed 
the  captain. 

"  His  sword  is  ever  ready  to  defend  the  helpless  and  to 


"OF  THE  NICEST  HONOUR"  103 

uphold  the  virtuous.  Would  to  heaven  there  were  more 
like  the  right  honourable  the  Earl  of  Fylingdale  !  " 

"  Look  ye,  Master  Sam,"  said  the  captain.  "  Your  good 
opinion  of  your  patron  does  you  credit.  I  honour  you 
for  your  generous  words.  I  have  never  so  far,  and  I  am 
now  past  seventy,  encountered  any  man  who  was  either 
saint  or  angel,  but  in  every  man  have  I  always  found  some 
flaw,  whether  of  temper  or  of  conduct.  So  that  I  do  not 
pretend  to  believe  all  that  you  make  out." 

Sam  Semple  sighed  and  rose.  "  I  ask  not  for  your  entire 
belief,  sir.  It  will  be  sufficient  if  you  learn,  as  I  have 
learned,  the  great  worth  of  this  exalted  and  incomparable 
nobleman.  As  for  flaws,  we  are  all  human ;  but  I  know 
of  none.  So  I  take  my  leave.  I  venture  to  hope,  sir, 
that  your  good  lady  and  your  lovely  ward — I  use  the  word 
with  due  respect — are  in  good  health." 

So  he  departed,  leaving  the  captain  thoughtful. 

And  now  they  were  all  among  us,  the  vile  crew  brought 
together  for  our  undoing  by  this  lord  so  noble  and  so  ex- 
alted. And  we  were  already  entangled  in  a  whole  mesh  of 
lies  and  conspiracies,  the  result  of  which  you  have  now  to 
learn. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE    HUMOURS   OF    THE    SPA 

AND  now  began  that  famous  month — it  lasted  very  little 
more — when  the  once  godly  town  of  Lynn  was  delivered 
over  to  the  devil  and  all  his  crew.  We  who  are  natives 
of  the  place  speak  of  that  time  and  the  misfortunes  which 
followed  with  reluctance  ;  we  would  fain  forget  that  it  ever 
fell  upon  us.  To  begin  with,  the  place  was  full  of  people. 
They  came  from  all  the  country  round ;  not  only  did  the  gen- 
tlefolk crowd  into  the  town  and  the  clergy  from  the  cathedral 
towns  and  the  colleges,  but  there  were  also  their  servants, 
hulking  footmen,  pert  lady's  maids,  with  the  people  who 
flock  after  them,  creatures  more  women  than  men  ;  the 
hairdressers,  barbers,  milliners,  dressmakers,  and  the  crea- 
tures who  deal  in  things  which  a  fashionable  woman  cannot 
do  without,  those  who  provide  the  powder,  patches,  cos- 
metics, eau  de  Chypre^  and  washes  for  the  complexion,  the 
teeth,  the  hands,  and  the  face ;  the  jewellers  and  those  who 
deal  in  gold  and  silver  ornaments ;  the  sellers  of  lace,  rib- 
bons, gloves,  fans,  and  embroidery  of  all  kinds.  Our  shops, 
humble  enough  to  look  upon  from  the  outside,  became 
treasure  houses  when  one  entered ;  and  I  verily  believe  that 
the  ladies  of  the  spa  took  greater  pleasure  in  turning  over 
the  things  hidden  away  behind  the  shop  windows,  and  not 
exposed  to  the  vulgar  gaze,  than  in  any  of  the  entertain- 
ments offered  them. 

Every  other  house  in  Mercer  Street  and  Chequer  Row 
was  converted  into  a  shop  for  the  sale  of  finery ;  at  the  door 
of  each  stood  the  shopman  or  the  shopwoman,  all  civility 
and  assurance,  inviting  an  entrance.  "  Madam,"  said  one, 
"  I  have  this  day  received  by  the  London  waggon  a  con- 
signment of  silks  which  it  would  do  you  good  only  to  see 
and  to  feel.  Enter,  madam  ;  the  mere  sight  is  better  for  the 
vapours  than  all  the  waters  of  the  pump  room.  Look  at 

104 


THE  HUMOURS  OF  THE  SPA  105 

these  silks  before  they  are  all  sold.  John,  the  newly  arrived 
silks  for  their  ladyships,"  and  so  on,  all  along  the  streets 
while  the  ladies  walked  slowly  over  the  rough  paving  stones, 
followed  by  their  footmen  with  their  long  sticks,  and  their 
insolent  bearing.  Indeed,  I  know  not  which  more  attracted 
the  curiosity  of  the  countrywomen — the  fine  ladies  or  the 
fine  footmen.  These  gallant  creatures,  the  footmen  with 
their  worsted  epaulettes  and  their  brave  liveries,  did  not 
venture  into  the  streets  by  the  riverside — Pudding  Lane, 
Common  Stath  Lane,  or  the  like — the  resort  of  the  sailors, 
where  the  reception  of  those  who  did  venture  was  warmer 
and  less  polite  than  they  expected. 

For  the  gentlemen  there  were  the  taverns ;  every  house 
round  the  market-place  became  a  tavern,  where  an  ordinary 
was  held  at  twelve. 

And  the  gentlemen  sat  drinking  all  the  afternoon.  Nay, 
they  began  in  the  morning  making  breakfast  of  a  pint  of 
Canary  with  a  pennyworth  of  bread,  a  slice  of  cheese,  and 
after  the  meal  a  penny  roll  of  tobacco.  These  were  the 
gentlemen  belonging  to  the  country  families.  The  attrac- 
tions of  the  s-pa  to  them  were  the  tavern,  the  cockpit,  the 
field  where  they  raced  their  horses,  the  badger  baiting,  and 
sport  of  all  these  kinds  that  can  be  obtained  in  the  spring 
and  summer,  when  there  is  no  shooting  of  starlings  in  the 
reeds  of  marshland,  and  the  decoy  of  ducks,  for  which  this 
country  is  famous. 

Rooms  had  to  be  found  for  the  servants ;  a  profligate  and 
deboshed  crew  they  were,  of  whose  manners  it  may  be  said 
that  they  were  insolent,  and  of  their  morals,  that  they  had 
none.  Two  or  three  of  them,  however,  getting  a  drubbing 
from  our  sailors,  the  rest  went  in  some  terror. 

It  was  as  if  the  birds  of  the  air  had  carried  the  news  of 
this  great  discovery  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  so  that 
not  only  was  a  great  multitude  attracted  to  the  place  in 
search  of  health  and  pleasure,  but  also  another  multitude 
of  those  who  came  to  supply  every  kind  of  want,  real  or 
imaginary.  A  thousand  wants  were  invented,  especially 
for  the  ladies,  so  that  whereas  many  of  the  damsels  from 
quiet  country  houses  had  been  content  with  homespun, 
linsey  woolsey,  or,  at  best,  with  sarcenet,  a  few  ribbons  for 
their  staw  hats,  and  thread  for  their  gloves,  now  found 


106  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

themselves  unable  to  appear  abroad  except  with  heads  made 
up  on  wires  and  round  rolls,  their  hair  powdered  and  pinned 
to  large  puff  caps,  with  gowns  of  silk,  flounced  sleeves,  and 
a  laced  tippet.  And  when  they  went  home  they  were  no 
longer  contented  with  the  things  of  their  own  making,  the 
cordials  of  ginger,  cherries,  and  so  forth,  the  distilled  waters, 
the  home-brewed  ale,  the  small  beer,  the  wines  made  with 
raspberries,  currants  and  blackberries.  They  murmured 
after  tea  and  coffee,  the  wine  of  Lisbon  and  Canary,  the 
rosolio  and  the  ratafia,  the  macaroons,  the  chocolate,  the 
perfumes,  and  the  many  gauds  of  the  dressing-table.  And 
they  scorned  the  honest  red  and  brown  of  cheek  and  hands 
that  cared  nothing  for  the  sun,  as  if  they  would  be  more 
beautiful  in  the  eyes  of  their  lovers  by  having  cheeks  of  a 
pale  white  with  a  smudge  of  paint,  and  hands  as  white  as 
if  just  out  of  bed  and  a  long  illness. 

The  way  of  the  company  was  as  follows : 

They  met  at  the  pump  room  about  ten ;  they  called  for  the 
water ;  they  exchanged  the  latest  scandal ;  they  talked  about 
dress ;  they  bemoaned  their  losses  at  cards ;  they  then  walked 
off  to  morning  prayers,  chiefly  at  St.  Nicholas's,  where,  as 
you  have  heard,  Mr.  Benjamin  Purdon  read  them  with 
honeyed  words  and  rolling  voice.  From  the  church  they 
repaired  to  a  confectioner's  called  Jonathan's — I  know  not 
why — where  they  all  devoured  a  certain  cake  made  ex- 
pressly for  them ;  from  the  confectioner's  some  went  to  the 
draper,  the  milliner,  or  the  haberdasher ;  some  to  the  long 
room,  where  there  were  generally  public  breakfasts  of  tea, 
chocolate,  and  coffee ;  a  few,  but  these  were  mostly  men, 
went  to  the  bookseller's,  where,  for  half-a-crown  a  month, 
they  could  read  all  day  long  and  what  they  pleased.  The 
bookseller  came  from  Norwich,  and  when  the  season  ended 
went  back  to  Norwich.  Dinner  was  served  at  twelve  or 
one.  At  five  o'clock  or  thereabouts  the  company  began  to 
arrive  at  the  gardens  and  the  long  room,  where,  with  music, 
cards,  conversation,  and  walking  among  the  coloured  lamps, 
the  evening  was  quickly  spent.  Twice  a  week  there  was  an 
assembly  for  dancing,  when  refreshments  were  provided  at 
the  cost  of  the  gentlemen. 

For  the  gentlemen  there  were  also  the  coffee  houses,  of 
which  two  at  least  sprang  into  existence.  One  laid  down 


THE  HUMOURS  OF  THE  SPA  107 

twopence  on  entering,  and  could  call  for  a  dish  of  tea,  a  cup 
of  coffee,  or  one  of  chocolate.  In  one  of  them  were  found 
the  clergy,  the  lawyers,  and  the  justices  of  the  peace ;  they 
settled  the  affairs  of  the  nation  and  decided  the  characters 
of  the  ministers.  In  the  other  were  those  who  affected  to 
be  beaux  and  wits.  Among  the  latter  set  one  found  Sam 
Semple,  now  a  person  of  great  authority,  as  the  secretary 
of  Lord  Fylingdale  and  the  author  of  a  book  of  verse.  He 
pretended  to  be  an  arbiter.  "  Sir,"  he  would  say,  "  by 
your  leave.  The  case  is  quite  otherwise.  The  matter 
was  lately  discussed  at  Will's.  A  certain  distinguished 
poet,  who  shall  be  nameless,  whose  opinion  carries  weight 
even  in  that  august  assemblage,  was  of  opinion  that  .  .  ." 
And  so  forth,  with  an  air  of  profound  wisdom.  As  regards 
wit  in  conversation,  it  consists,  I  believe,  in  finding  different 
ways,  all  unexpected,  of  saying:  "You  are  a  fool.  You 
are  an  ass.  You  are  a  jackanapes.  You  are  an  ignorant 
clown.  You  are  a  low-born  upstart."  This  kind  of  wit 
was  cultivated  with  some  success  at  first,  but  as  it  was  not 
always  relished  by  those  to  whom  it  was  directed,  it  led  to 
the  pulling  of  noses  and  the  discharge  of  coffee  or  tea  in  the 
face  of  the  ingenious  author  of  the  unexpected  epigram.  So 
that  its  practice  languished  and  presently  died  out  alto- 
gether. 

The  most  astonishing  change,  however,  was  in  the  market- 
place. Here,  instead  of  one  market  day  in  the  week,  there 
was  a  market  day  all  the  week  long.  The  stalls  were  never 
removed  j  every  day  the  country  people  crowded  into  the 
town — some  riding,  some  walking,  some  in  boats,  some  in 
barges,  bringing  poultry,  ducks,  eggs,  butter,  cream,  milk, 
cheese,  honey,  lettuce  for  sallet,  and  everything  that  a  farm, 
a  dairy,  and  a  stillroom  can  provide.  Some  sat  on  upturned 
baskets,  their  wares  spread  out  before  them ;  some  stood  at 
stalls  with  white  hangings  to  keep  off  the  sun ;  the  fine 
ladies  went  about  among  them  chaffering  and  bargaining,  their 
maids  following  with  baskets.  It  was  a  pretty  sight,  and 
to  my  mind  the  rustic  damsels,  for  good  looks,  got  the  better 
of  the  fine  ladies  and  their  maids.  Many  of  the  beaux  and 
young  bloods  were  of  the  same  opinion,  apparently,  for  they, 
too,  went  round  among  the  stalls,  with  compliments  not 
doubtful,  and  talk  more  free  than  polite,  chucking  the 


io8  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

girls  under  the  chin  and  pinching  their  cheeks.  To  be 
sure  these  freedoms  do  a  body  no  harm,  and  I  believe  our 
Norfolk  girls  can  look  after  themselves  as  well  as  any. 

And  every  day  outside  the  stalls  there  assembled  such  a 
motley  crowd  as  had  never  before  been  seen  in  Lynn.  It 
was  a  perpetual  fair,  at  which  you  could  buy  anything. 
Gipsies  went  about  leading  horses  for  sale,  the  cheap  Jack 
stood  on  the  footboard  of  his  cart  and  bawled  his  wares ; 
the  rogue  stood  up,  with  voice  and  cheeks  of  brass,  and 
offered  his  caps,  knives,  scissors,  cups  and  saucers,  frying 
pans,  saucepans,  kettles,  every  morning.  His  store  could 
never  be  exhausted  ;  he  took  a  quarter  of  what  he  asked ; 
and  he  went  on  day  after  day.  Nor  must  we  forget  the 
travelling  quack,  the  learned  doctor  in  a  huge  wig  and  black 
velvet ;  as  like  to  Dr.  Worship  himself  as  one  pea  is  like 
another.  He  had  his  stage  and  his  tumbling  clown,  who 
twisted  himself  upon  the  tight  rope,  turned  somersaults, 
walked  on  his  head,  grinned  and  made  mouths  and  was  as 
merry  a  rogue  as  his  master  was  grave.  After  the  Tom  Fool 
had  collected  a  crowd  and  made  them  merry,  the  doctor  ad- 
vanced, his  face  full  of  wisdom,  and  explained  that  he  came 
among  them  newly  arrived  from  Persia,  that  land  famous 
for  its  learned  physicians ;  that  he  was  not  an  ordinary  phy- 
sician, seeking  to  make  money  by  his  science ;  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  what  he  offered  was  given,  rather  than  sold,  the 
charge  made  being  barely  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  costly 
ingredients  used  in  the  making  of  these  sovereign  remedies. 
He  had  his  pills  and  his  draughts;  his  balsams  and  his  elec- 
tuary ;  he  had  his  plaster  against  rheumatism ;  his  famous 
Puhis  Catharticus  against  fever;  his  Carduus  Benedict™ 
against  ague ;  and,  in  a  word,  his  infallible  remedies  against 
all  the  ills  to  which  flesh  is  liable.  So  he  played  his  part, 
not  every  day,  but  often,  for  the  crowd  in  the  market-place 
changed  continually,  and  every  change  brought  him  new 
patients. 

Or  there  was  the  tooth  drawer.  You  knew  him  by  the 
string  of  teeth  which  hung  round  his  neck  like  a  string  of 
pearls  over  the  neck  of  a  lady  or  a  collar  of  SS.  round  the 
neck  of  the  worshipful  the  mayor.  He  pulled  teeth  at  half  a 
crown  each,  and  if  that  was  too  much,  at  a  shilling.  Not 
only  did  he  bawl  his  calling  among  the  crowd,  but  he  went 


THE  HUMOURS  OF  THE  SPA  109 

through  the  streets  from  house  to  house  asking  if  his  services 
were  wanted. 

The  town  crier  added  to  the  noise  and  the  animation  of 
the  scene.  Almost  every  day  he  had  something  to  bawl. 
He  was  known  by  his  dress  and  his  bell.  He  wore  a  green 
coat  with  brass  buttons ;  a  broad  laced  hat ;  he  had  a  broad 
badge  with  the  arms  of  the  town  upon  his  arm ;  in  one  hand 
he  carried  a  staff  and  in  the  other  his  big  bell.  And  being 
by  nature  endowed  with  a  loud  voice,  and  a  good  opinion  of 
himself,  he  magnified  his  office  by  ringing  more  loudly  and 
longer  than  was  necessary,  by  repeating  his  "  O  yes  !  O  yes ! 
O  yes  !  "  at  the  end  as  well  as  the  beginning  of  his  announce- 
ment, and  by  proclaiming  this  twice  over. 

Towards  the  hour  of  noon,  when  every  tavern  had  its 
ordinary,  and  the  sausages  and  black  puddings  were  hissing 
in  the  cooks'  stalls,  there  arose  a  fragrance — call  it  an  in- 
cense of  gratitude — which  pleasantly  engaged  the  senses. 
It  was  a  hogo  of  frying  fish,  chops,  steaks,  sausages,  bacon, 
ham  and  onions ;  it  included  the  smell  of  gosling  and  duck- 
ling and  chicken,  roasted  rabbit  fricasseed ;  of  roast  pork, 
lamb,  mutton,  and  beef;  of  baked  pies — all  kinds  of  pies — 
custards,  cheese  cakes,  dumplings,  hasty  pudding.  Then 
the  feet  of  those  who  could  afford  it  turned  to  the  tavern ; 
those  who  could  not  pay  the  ordinary  at  two  shillings,  or 
that  at  one  shilling,  dived  into  the  cellar,  where  they  could 
dine  for  sixpence,  or  stood  about  the  stalls  where  they  fried 
the  sausages ;  those  who  brought  their  dinner  with  them  sat 
on  their  baskets  and  devoured  their  food,  or  bought  of  the 
street  criers  who  now  went  up  and  down  ringing  bells  and 
crying : 

Hot  black  puddings,  hot, 

Smoking  hot, 
Just  come  out  of  the  pot. 


or, 


Here,  dainty  brave  cheese  cakes, 

Come,  buy  'em  of  me  ; 

Two  for  twopence, 

One  for  a  penny  ; 
Come  along,  customers,  if  you'll  buy  any. 


no  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

It  pleased  me  to  recall  the  humours  of  the  town  at  that 
time.  Except  for  the  rows  of  booths,  one  would  have 
thought  it  Stourbridge  Fair  at  Cambridge,  which  once  I  saw. 
The  weather  was  fine  and  clear,  the  cold  east  winds  gone. 
There  was  so  much  money  flying  about  that  everybody  was 
buying  as  well  as  selling ;  in  spite  of  all  that  was  brought 
into  the  town  by  the  visitors,  nothing  was  left  when  they 
went  away,  because  all  had  been  spent.  We  thought  that 
the  harvest  would  last  forever.  We  looked  to  a  season  like 
that  of  Bath,  which  goes  on  all  the  year  round.  If  our 
people  took  more  money  in  one  day  than  they  had  before 
taken  in  a  whole  month,  they  thought  that  it  would  go  on 
day  after  day,  and  they  spent  it  all  without  restraint.  Nay, 
the  wives  and  daughters  of  those  who  had  kept  humble  shops 
and  been  content  with  fat  bacon  and  hot  milk  for  breakfast, 
and  more  bacon  for  dinner;  who  had  been  clad  in  home- 
spun, now  drank  tea  with  bread  and  butter  for  breakfast 
like  the  Lady  Anastasia  herself;  dined  off  ducks  and  gos- 
lings ;  drank  fine  ale  and  even  Canary  and  Lisbon ;  and  ven- 
tured to  attend  the  assembly  where  they  stood  up  to  the 
country  dance  in  silk  like  any  gentlewoman. 

I  have  mentioned  the  company  of  players;  they  acted 
three  times  a  week.  We  who  work  for  our  living  are  apt 
to  despise  these  mummers  and  their  calling ;  to  pretend  every 
day  to  be  some  one  else  is  not,  we  think,  an  occupation 
worthy  of  a  man,  while  the  painting,  the  disguise,  the  rep- 
resentation, either  in  dumb  show  or  in  words,  of  all  the  pas- 
sions in  turn,  must  surely  kave  the  actor  no  real  passions  of 
his  own.  Yet  I  heard,  while  this  company  was  with  us, 
cases  of  such  generosity  and  Christian  charity  one  towards 
the  other  when  the  money  ceased  to  come  in,  that  I  am 
constrained  to  allow  them  at  least  the  great  Christian  virtue 
of  love  for  one  another. 

Besides  the  players,  there  were  the  singers  and  the  musi- 
cians of  the  spa;  and  there  were  jugglers,  mountebanks, 
tumblers,  tight-rope  dancers,  ballad-singers,  fortune-tellers, 
conjurers,  pedlars  and  hawkers  of  all  kinds.  The  town  of 
Lynn,  formerly  so  quiet  and  retired,  with  no  other  disturb- 
ance than  that  caused  by  a  brawl  among  drunken  sailors, 
became  suddenly  transformed  into  the  abode  of  all  the  devils 
disengaged  at  the  moment.  There  were  sharpers  busy  at 


THE  HUMOURS  OF  THE  SPA  in 

the  races  and  the  cocking ;  men  who  laid  bets,  and  if  they 
lost,  ran  away,  but  loudly  demanded  their  money  when  they 
won ;  there  was  gambling ;  there  was  drinking ;  there  was 
fighting;  the  servants  were  as  corrupt  as  their  masters; 
there  were  fresh  scandals  continually ;  a  reputation  lost  every 
day ;  there  were  duels  fought  over  drunken  quarrels,  about 
women,  about  bets  and  wagers ;  the  clerks  of  the  counting- 
houses  were  filled  with  the  new  spirit  of  gambling ;  there 
were  lotteries  and  raffles  in  which  everybody  took  tickets, 
even  if  they  got  the  money  for  them  dishonestly.  In  a 
word,  the  pursuits  of  pleasure  proved  a  mad  race,  down  a 
broad  and  flowery  path,  on  each  side  of  which  were  drinking 
booths,  and  music,  and  dancing,  while  at  the  end  there 
opened  wide  .  .  .  You  shall  speedily  learn  what  this 
was. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  CAPTAIN'S  AMBITION 

"  JACK,"  said  the  captain,  "  I  am  now  resolved  that 
Molly  shall  make  her  appearance  at  the  assembly,  and  that 
as  the  heiress  that  she  is.  Not  lowly  and  humbly.  She 
shall  take  her  place  at  once  among  the  fine  ladies." 

"  But  she  is  not  a  gentlewoman,  captain,"  I  objected. 

"  She  shall  be  finer  than  any  gentlewoman  of  the  whole 
company — just  as  she  is  better  to  look  at  without  any 
finery." 

"  Will  the  company,"  I  asked,  "  welcome  her  among 
them  ? " 

"  The  women,  Jack,  will  flout  and  slight  her — I  have 
watched  them.  They  flout  and  slight  each  other.  That 
breaks  no  bones.  She  shall  go." 

He  went  on  to  explain  his  designs.  As  you  have  heard, 
they  were  ambitious. 

"  I  have  this  day  acquainted  Molly,  for  the  first  time, 
with  the  truth.  She  now  knows  that  she  is  richer  than 
any  one  believed.  As  for  herself,  she  never  thought  about 
her  fortune,  knowing,  she  says,  that  it  was  safe  in  my 
hands.  I  have  opened  her  father's  strong  place — it  is  in 
the  cellar,  behind  a  stone,  and  I  have  taken  out  the  treas- 
ures that  even  her  mother  never  saw,  because  her  father 
wished  to  lead  a  homely  life,  and  concealed  his  treasures. 
There  are  jewels  and  gold  chains,  bracelets,  necklaces,  rings 
— all  kinds  of  things — Molly  has  them  all — she  is  even 
now  hugging  them  all  in  her  lap  and  trying  them  on  before 
her  looking-glass.  She  shall  go  to  the  assembly  covered 
with  jewels." 

"  Is  there  any  one  among  the  whole  company  fit  for 
her?"  I  asked. 

"  There  is  one,  Jack.  He  is  the  noble  Lord — the  Lord 
Fylingdale — a  very  great  man,  indeed." 

112 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  AMBITION  113 

"  Lord  Fylingdale  ?     Captain,  are  you  serious  ?  " 

"  Why,  Jack,  who  can  be  too  high  and  too  grand  for  my 
Molly  ?  He  is  said  to  be  of  a  virtuous  character  and  pious 
disposition ;  he  neither  gambles  nor  drinks,  nor  is  a  liber- 
tine, as  is  too  common  among  many  of  his  rank." 

"  But,  captain,  he  will  marry  one  of  his  own  rank." 

11  Ta-ta  !  he  will  marry  a  fine  girl,  virtuously  brought 
up,  made  finer  by  her  fortune.  What  more  can  he  expect 
than  beauty,  modesty,  virtue,  and  a  great — a  noble  fortune  ? 
If  the  girl  pleases  him — why,  Jack,  come  to  think  of  it,  the 
girl  must  please  him — she  would  move  the  heart  of  an  ice- 
berg— then,  I  say,  I  shall  see  my  girl  raised  to  her  proper 
place,  and  I  shall  die  happy." 

"  But,  captain,  you  will  raise  her  above  her  mother  and 
above  yourself,  and  above  all  her  old  friends.  You  will 
lose  her  altogether." 

"  Ay,  there's  the  rub.  But  I  shall  be  contented  even 
with  that  loss  if  she  is  happy." 

I  can  see  even  now  the  honest  eyes  of  the  good  old  man 
humid  for  a  moment  as  he  contemplated  his  own  loss,  and 
I  can  hear  his  voice  shake  a  little  at  thinking  of  the  happi- 
ness he  designed  for  his  ward. 

No  one  would  believe  that  the  captain  could  be  so  cun- 
ning. No  one  who  reads  this  history  would  believe,  either, 
that  a  man  could  be  so  ignorant  and  so  simple.  We  were 
all  as  ignorant  and  as  simple.  We  all  believed  what  these 
lying  people — these  creatures  of  the  devil — (when  I  say  the 
devil  I  mean  Lord  Fylingdale) — told  us.  Sir  Harry  said 
that  he  was  too  virtuous  and  too  serious  for  the  world  of 
fashion ;  the  parson  said  that  he  was  the  most  cleanly  liver 
of  all  young  men ;  the  poet  swore  that  he  was  all  day  long 
doing  and  scheming  acts  of  charity  and  goodness  towards 
the  unfortunate.  They  were  all  in  a  tale — these  villains — 
and  we  were  simple  and  ignorant  folk,  credulous  sailors  and 
honest  citizens  living  remote  from  the  vices  of  town,  who 
knew  nothing  and  suspected  nothing.  As  for  myself,  I 
was  carried  away,  as  much  as  the  old  captain,  with  the 
thought  of  the  honour  and  glory  that  awaited  our  Molly. 
I  concluded,  in  my  simplicity,  that  the  mere  appearance 
and  sight  of  the  lovely  girl  would  make  all  the  men  fall 
madly  in  love  with  her,  without  considering  the  hundred 


ii4  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

thousand  additional  charms  held  in  trust  for  her  by  her 
guardian. 

After  this  talk  with  the  captain  I  sought  Molly.  She 
was  in  the  summerhouse  up  the  garden  with  her  treasures 
spread  out  before  her.  It  was  a  most  wonderful  sight — but 
it  filled  me  with  madness.  I  never  imagined  such  a  pile  of 
gold  and  of  precious  stones.  There  were  diamonds,  and 
rubies,  and  blue  sapphires;  there  were  all  kinds  of  gems, 
with  chains  of  gold  and  bracelets — a  glittering  pile  of  gold 
and  jewels.  Yet  my  heart  sank  at  the  spectacle. 

"  Look,  Jack,  look,"  she  cried.  "  They  are  all  mine  ! 
All  mine  !  "  She  gathered  up  a  handful,  and  let  them  roll 
through  her  fingers.  "  All  mine  !  Only  think,  and  yester- 
day I  was  thinking  how  delightful  it  must  be  to  have  even 
one  gold  chain  to  hang  round  my  neck  !  All  mine  !  " 

"  Has  your  mother  seen  them,  Molly  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  she  knew  that  there  were  things  somewhere,  but 
my  father  kept  them  put  away.  Mother  didn't  want 
jewels  and  chains.  They  came  to  us  from  grandfather, 
who  sailed  to  the  East  Indies  and  brought  them  home. 
Look  at  the  dainty  delicate  work  !  "  She  held  up  a  chain 
most  wonderful  for  its  fine  small  work.  "  Did  you  ever 
see  anything  more  beautiful  ?  " 

I  turned  away.  The  sight  of  the  treasures  made  me  sick. 
For,  you  see,  they  showed  me  how  wide  was  the  gulf  be- 
tween Molly  and  me. 

"You  want  no  jewels,  Molly.  I  wish  you  were  poor 
with  all  my  heart." 

"  Oh  !  Jack !  and  so  not  to  have  these  lovely  things  ? 
That  is  cruel  of  you.  And  oh  !  Jack,  I  am  to  go  to  the 
assembly  to-morrow  evening." 

"  So  the  captain  tells  me." 

"  At  last.  Victory  and  Amanda  " — Victory  was  the 
daughter  of  the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas,  and  Amanda  was 
the  daughter  of  the  doctor — "  have  been  already,  and  I 
have  been  kept  at  home.  The  dear,  bewitching  assembly  ! 
The  music  !  The  dancing  !  The  fine  ladies  !  " 

"  There  will  be  none  finer  than  you,  Molly." 

"  That  is  what  the  captain  says.  I  am  to  wear  my  gold 
chains  and  my  jewels.  My  dress  is  waiting  to  be  tried  on. 
It  came  from  Norwich.  I  shall  not  let  you  see  it  till  the 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  AMBITION  115 

evening.  The  hairdresser  is  engaged  for  to-morrow  after- 
noon. Victory  says  that  the  fine  ladies  turn  up  their  noses 
and  hide  their  faces  with  their  fans  when  the  girls  of  the 
place  pass  before  them.  Why  ?  Victory  does  not  thrust 
her  company  upon  them.  Nor  shall  I.  As  for  that,  I  can 
bear  their  disdainful  looks  and  their  flouts  with  patience,  I 
dare  say." 

"  If  these  are  the  manners  of  the  Great,"  I  said,  "  give 
me  our  own  manners." 

"  We  are  not  gentlefolk,  Jack,  you  and  I  and  the  cap- 
tain. We  must  not  complain.  If  we  intrude  upon  the 
Quality  they  will  show  what  they  think  of  us.  To  be 
sure,  the  captain  says  that  I  could  buy  up  the  whole  room. 
But  I  don't  want  to  buy  up  anybody.  I  would  rather  let 
them  go  their  own  way,  so  that  I  may  go  mine.  Jack,  if 
I  were  a  great  lady  I  think  I  would  be  kind  to  a  girl  who 
was  not  so  well  born,  if  only  she  knew  her  place." 

"  You  need  not  be  humble,  Molly.  When  they  know 
who  you  are,  and  what  is  your  fortune,  you  will  make  these 
fine  ladies  ashamed." 

"The  captain  wants  me  to  marry  some  great  per- 
son," she  laughed.  "  Oh  !  If  the  great  person  could  see 
me  making  the  bed  and  baking  the  apple  pie  and  beating 
the  eggs  for  the  custard,  with  my  sleeves  turned  up  and  my 
apron  tied  round  my  waist !  What  a  fine  lady  I  shall 
make,  to  be  sure  !  " 

11  Well,  but,  Molly,  remember  that  you  are  rich.  You 
cannot  marry  anybody  in  Lynn.  You  must  look  higher." 

"  Jack,  it  makes  me  laugh.  How  shall  I  learn  to  be  a 
great  lady  ?  How  should  I  command  an  army  of  servants 
who  have  had  but  my  faithful  black  ?  How  should  I  sit 
in  a  gilded  coach,  who  am  used  to  ride  a  pony  or  to  sail  a 
boat  ? " 

"  You  will  soon  get  accustomed,  Molly,  even  to  a  coach 
and  six  and  running  footmen,  such  as  Lord  Fylingdale 
has.  You  are  not  like  Victory  and  Amanda,  and  the  rest 
of  the  girls  of  Lynn,  portionless  and  penniless.  You 
must  remember  the  station  to  which  your  fortune  calls 
you." 

"  Money  makes  not  a  gentleman,"  she  returned.  "  Nor 
a  gentlewoman.  I  know  my  station.  It  is  here,  with  my 


n6  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

guardian,  among  my  old  friends.  Well,  perhaps  I  shall 
not  take  my  place  in  what  you  call  my  station  this  year — 
or  next  year."  Her  face  cleared,  and  became  once  more 
full  of  sunshine.  "  Jack,"  she  said,  "  has  the  captain  told 
you  ?  No  one  is  to  dance  with  me  to-morrow  except 
yourself.  We  are  to  have  the  last  minuet  and  first  coun- 
try dance  together.  None  of  the  pretty  fellows  at  the  as- 
sembly are  to  speak  to  me.  It  is  arranged  with  Mr.  Prap- 
pet.  They  may  look  on  with  admiration  and  longing, 
Mr.  Prappet  says." 

Since  the  arrival  of  our  master  of  the  ceremonies,  Mr. 
Prappet,  the  dancing  master  of  Norwich,  he  had  been  giv- 
ing Molly  lessons  in  those  arts  of  dancing  and  the  carriage 
of  the  body,  the  arms,  the  face,  the  head,  which  are  con- 
sidered to  mark  the  polite  world.  As  for  myself,  I  was 
called  upon  to  be  her  partner.  Truth  to  say,  I  was  always 
better  at  a  hornpipe  or  a  jig  than  in  any  of  the  fashion- 
able dances;  but,  in  a  way,  I  could  make  shift  to  go 
through  the  steps. 

"  Now,"  she  said,  u  let  us  practise  once  more  by  our- 
selves." 

So  we  stepped  out  upon  the  grass,  and  there — she  in  her 
stuff  frock,  her  apron,  her  hair  lying  about  her  neck  and 
shoulders,  and  I  in  my  workaday  garb — we  practised  the 
dance  which  belongs  to  the  assembly,  to  courts,  to  stately 
ladies  and  to  gentlemen  of  birth  and  rank. 

The  captain  was  more  cunning  than  one  could  have  be- 
lieved possible.  He  would  produce  this  girl  before  the 
astonished  company.  They  should  see  that  she  was  more 
beautiful  than  any  other  woman  in  the  whole  room ;  more 
finely  dressed ;  covered  with  gold  chains  and  jewels ;  thus 
proclaiming  herself  as  an  heiress  of  great  wealth.  She 
should  dance,  at  first,  with  none  but  one  of  her  own  sta- 
tion, or  near  it,  and  her  old  companion.  She  would  first 
make  all  the  world  talk  about  her ;  but  she  should  be  kept 
apart.  It  should  be  understood  that  she  was  not  for  any 
of  the  young  fellows  of  the  company.  Then,  if  she  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  this  young  nobleman,  so  virtuous, 
so  pious,  and  of  such  rare  qualities  of  heart  and  head — the 
thing  which  most  he  desired — her  marriage  with  some  man 
of  high  position,  fit  for  such  a  girl,  might  take  place.  That 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  AMBITION  117 

was  his  design,  thinking  of  Lord  Fylingdale.  If  it  failed 
he  would  withdraw  the  girl  from  the  company  and  cast 
about  for  some  other  way. 

While  we  were  practising  he  came  into  the  garden  and 
stood  leaning  on  his  stick  to  look  at  us. 

"  Body  and  bones  !  "  he  said ;  "  you've  caught  the  very 
trick  of  it.  Prappet  has  taught  you  how  they  do  it. 
Sprawl,  Jack ;  sprawl  with  a  will.  Twist  and  turn  your 
body.  Shake  your  leg,  man.  It's  a  fine  leg ;  better  than 
most.  Shake  it  lustily.  Slide,  Molly,  slide ;  slide  with 
zeal.  Slide  and  bend  and  twist,  and  shake  your  fan.  I 
don't  call  that  dancing  !  Why,  there  isn't  a  lad  in  any 
fo'k'sle  couldn't  do  it  better.  Give  them  the  hornpipe, 
Jack,  when  the  sliding  and  sprawling  is  finished.  Stand 
up  and  say,  c  Ladies,  your  most  obedient.  I  will  now  show 
a  dance  that  is  a  dance.' ' 

When  we  finished  he  went  on  with  his  discourse. 

"  Molly  has  told  you,  I  suppose.  She  will  dance  to- 
morrow evening  with  none  but  you.  After  the  country 
dance  lead  her  to  her  chair,  and  we  will  walk  home  beside 
her." 

"  Jack  will  look  very  fine  among  all  the  beaux,"  said 
Molly,  laughing. 

Truly,  I  had  not  considered  the  matter  of  dress,  and  I 
stood  in  my  workaday  things — to  wit,  a  brown  frieze  coat 
with  black  buttons,  a  drugget  waistcoat,  shag  breeches,  and 
black  stockings.  I  remembered  the  grand  silk  and  velvet 
of  the  beaux  and  stood  abashed. 

"  Show  him,  captain,"  said  Molly,  laughing,  "  what  we 
have  got  for  him." 

The  captain  shook  his  head.  "  My  mind  misgives  me," 
he  said.  "That  boy  will  feel  awkward  in  this  new  gear. 
However,  fine  feathers  make  fine  birds.  Also  fine  birds 
flock  together.  Since  thou  art  to  dance  with  Molly,  my 
lad,  thy  rig  must  do  credit  to  her  as  well  as  thyself,  so 
come  with  me." 

If  you  believe  me,  the  captain,  who  thought  of  every- 
thing, had  provided  such  a  dress  as  might  have  been  worn 
by  any  gentleman  in  the  room  without  discredit.  It  con- 
sisted of  a  blue  coat  with  silver  buttons  and  silver  braid  ;  a 
waistcoat  of  pink  silk,  velvet  breeches,  and  white  silk  stock- 


n8  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

ings.  There  was  added  a  gold  laced  hat  with  lace  for 
throat  and  sleeves. 

"  So,"  said  the  captain  when  I  stood  before  him  arrayed 
in  this  guise,  "  'tis  a  gentleman  born  and  bred,  to  look 
upon.  Powder  thy  hair,  my  lad ;  tie  it  with  a  white  rib- 
bon and  a  large  bow.  There  will  not  be  a  fribble  in  the 
whole  company,  even  including  the  poor  old  atomy,  Sir 
Harry,  to  compare  with  you." 

Molly  clapped  her  hands.  "  Jack  !  "  she  cried,  "  if  I 
pretend  to  be  a  great  lady  you  must  pretend  to  be  an  ad- 
miral, at  least.  Why,  sir,  I  feel  as  if  we  had  never  known 
you  before.  As  for  me — but  you  shall  see."  She  sighed. 
"It  is  only  for  the  evening,"  she  said.  "We  shall 
come  home  and  I  shall  put  on  my  old  homespun  again 
and  you  your  shag  and  your  frieze.  I  am  Cinderella 
and  you  are  Cinderella's  brother,  and  the  captain  is  the 
Fairy." 

So  we  laughed  and  made  merry.  Yet  still  I  felt  that 
sinking  of  the  heart  which  weighed  upon  me  from  the  first 
night  of  the  great  discovery  and  never  left  me.  There  are 
sailors — I  have  known  such — I  think  that  I  am  myself  one 
— who  know  beforehand  by  such  a  premonitory  sinking 
when  the  voyage  will  be  stormy.  Nay,  there  are  some 
who  know  and  can  foretell  when  the  ship  will  be  cast  away 
and  all  her  crew  drowned  in  the  sea  or  broken  to  pieces 
against  the  rocks. 

I  looked  into  the  parlour  and  found  Molly's  mother. 
She  sat  with  her  work  in  her  hands,  her  lips  moving,  her 
eyes  fixed.  And  I  saw  that  she  was  unhappy.  She  was  a 
homely  body  always.  One  could  understand  that  her  hus- 
band was  right  in  judging  that  she  was  not  likely  to  want 
jewels  and  gold  chains  or  to  show  them  to  advantage.  Like 
many  women  of  the  station  in  which  she  was  born  (which 
was  beneath  that  of  her  husband)  she  was  unlearned,  and 
could  not  read ;  but  she  was  a  notable  housewife. 

"  Jack,"  she  said,  coming  to  herself,  "  Molly  has  told 
you,  I  suppose." 

"  I  have  seen  her  treasures,  and  have  heard  that  she  is  to 
go  to  the  assembly." 

"She  is  richer  than  I  suspected.  Oh,  Jack,  she  will 
marry  some  great  man,  the  captain  says — and  so  I  shall 


£ 


T1S  A  GENTLEMAN  BORN  AND  BRED,  TO  LOOK  UPON. 


THE  CAPTAIN'S  AMBITION  119 

lose  my  girl— and  she  is  all  I  have  in  the  world — all  I  have 
— all  I  have  !  " 

She  threw  her  apron  over  her  head — and  I  slipped  away, 
my  heart  full  of  forebodings.  It  is  wonderful  to  remember 
these  forebodings  because  they  were  so  fully  justified. 
Patience  !  You  shall  hear. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
MOLLY'S  FIRST  MINUET 

I  HAVE  now  to  tell  you  how  Molly  made  her  first  public 
appearance  at  the  assembly,  and  how  she  delighted  and 
pleased  the  kindly  ladies  who  formed  the  company. 

It  was  a  crowded  gathering.  Lord  Fylingdale,  it  was 
known,  would  be  present.  Many  gentlemen,  therefore, 
who  would  otherwise  have  been  at  the  coffee  house,  the 
tavern,  or  the  cockpit,  were  present  in  honour  of  this  dis- 
tinguished visitor,  or  in  the  hope  of  being  presented  to  him. 
And  all  the  ladies  visiting  the  spa  were  there  as  well,  young 
and  old,  matrons  and  maids ;  the  latter,  perhaps,  permitting 
themselves  dreams  of  greatness. 

His  lordship  arrived  brave  in  apparel,  tall,  handsome, 
proud,  still  in  early  manhood,  wearing  his  star  upon  his 
breast.  Every  girl's  heart  beat  only  to  think  of  the  chance 
should  she  be  able  to  attract  the  attention  and  the  passion 
of  such  a  man.  He  was  accompanied  (say,  followed)  by 
his  secretary,  our  poet — the  only  poet  that  our  town  has 
produced.  The  master  of  the  ceremonies  received  him 
with  a  profound  bow,  and,  after  a  few  words,  conducted 
him  to  the  chair  or  throne  on  which  sat  the  Lady  An- 
astasia  with  a  small  court  around  her.  Then  the  music 
began,  and  Lord  Fylingdale  led  out  that  lady  for  the  minuet. 
And  the  company  stood  around  in  a  circle,  admiring.  He 
next  danced  with  the  young  wife  of  a  Norfolk  gentleman 
and  member  of  Parliament,  after  which  he  retired  and 
stood  apart.  Sir  Harry  followed,  dancing  twice  with  a  fine 
show  of  agility.  After  him  others  of  lower  rank  followed. 
Towards  the  conclusion  of  the  minuet  Molly  entered  the 
room,  led  by  her  guardian,  Captain  Crowle,  and  followed 
by  myself  in  my  new  disguise. 

The  captain  was  no  better  dressed  than  if  he  were  sitting 
in  the  Crown  Inn,  save  that  he  had  exchanged  his  worsted 
stockings  for  white  silk.  He  looked  what  he  was — a  sim- 

120 


MOLLY'S  FIRST  MINUET  121 

pie  sailor  and  commander  of  a  ship.  But  no  one  regarded 
him  or  myself,  because  all  eyes  were  turned  upon  Molly. 

She  appeared  before  the  astonished  assembly  clothed,  so 
to  speak,  with  diamonds  and  precious  stones,  glittering  in 
the  light  of  the  candles  like  a  crowd  of  stars.  She  was 
covered  with  jewels.  Diamonds  were  in  her  headdress; 
they  were  also  hanging  from  her  neck ;  there  were  rubies 
and  emeralds,  sapphires  and  opals  in  her  necklace  and  her 
bracelets ;  heavy  gold  chains,  light  gold  chains,  gold  chains 
set  with  pearls  were  hanging  about  her.  She  was  clothed, 
I  say,  from  head  to  foot  with  gold  and  with  precious 
stones. 

The  intention  of  the  captain  was  carried  out.  On  her 
first  appearance  she  proclaimed  herself  as  she  stood  before 
them  all  as  an  heiress  who  was  able  to  carry  a  great  fortune 
upon  her  back,  as  the  saying  is,  and  to  have  another  great 
fortune  at  home.  Never  before  had  the  company  beheld  so 
strange  a  sight ;  a  girl  wearing  so  much  wealth  and  such 
splendid  jewels  for  a  simple  assembly. 

Then  from  lip  to  lip  was  passed  the  words,  "  Who  is 
she  ?  What  is  her  name  ?  Where  does  she  come  from  ? 
What  is  her  family  ?  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  resplend- 
ent show  of  gems  and  gold  ?  Are  they  real  ?  Why  does 
she  wear  them  ? "  And  for  the  whole  of  that  evening, 
while  Molly  was  in  the  room,  no  one  thought  of  anything 
except  this  wonderful  vision  of  dazzling  jewels.  The  eyes 
of  the  whole  company  followed  her  about,  and  in  their 
conversation  they  talked  of  nothing  else.  For,  of  all 
things,  this  was  the  most  unexpected,  and,  to  all  the  other 
maidens,  the  most  disconcerting.  They  were  plain  coun- 
try girls,  while  Molly  was  a  goddess.  To  say  that  she  out- 
shone them  all  is  to  say  nothing.  There  was  no  compari- 
son possible. 

Truly  the  captain  was  right.  There  was  no  one  in  that 
room  who  could  compare  with  Molly — either  for  beauty  or 
for  bravery  of  apparel.  As  for  her  beauty,  it  was  of  the 
kind  the  power  of  which  women  seem  not  to  understand. 
Men,  who  do  understand  it,  call  it  loveliness.  Venus  her- 
self— Helen  of  Troy — Fair  Rosamond — Jane  Shore — all 
the  fair  women  of  whom  we  have  heard,  possessed,  I  am 
sure,  this  loveliness.  Your  regular  beauty  of  straight 


122  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

features  of  which  so  much  is  made  doth  never,  I  think, 
attract  mankind  so  surely,  or  so  quickly  ;  doth  never  hold 
men  so  strongly ;  doth  never  make  them  so  mad  with  love. 
It  is  the  woman  of  the  soft  eyes,  the  sweet  eyes,  the  eyes 
that  are  sometimes  hazel  and  sometimes  blue,  the  eyes  full 
of  light  and  sunshine,  the  eyes  where  Cupid  plays ;  the  lips 
that  are  always  ready  to  smile  ;  the  lips  so  rosy  red ;  so 
round  and  small ;  the  cheek  that  is  like  a  peach  for  soft- 
ness and  for  bloom,  touched  with  a  natural  pink  and  red ; 
the  rounded  chin ;  the  forehead  white  and  not  too  large  j 
the  light  brown  hair  that  is  almost  flaxen,  curling  naturally 
but  disposed  by  art.  Such  a  woman  was  Molly. 

Yet  not  a  weakly  thin  slip  of  a  girl.  She  was  tall  and 
strong ;  her  arms  were  round  and  white  as  a  woman's 
should  be,  but  they  were  big  as  well,  as  if  they  could  do 
man's  work — they  were  strengthened  and  rounded  by  the  oars 
which  she  had  handled  from  childhood.  Her  ample  cheek 
wanted  no  daub  of  paint ;  it  had  a  fine  healthy  colour,  like 
a  damask  rose,  but  more  delicate ;  her  eyes  were  full  and 
bright ;  there  was  no  girl  in  the  place,  not  even  among  the 
country  ladies,  could  show  a  face  and  figure  so  strong,  so 
finely  moulded,  of  such  large  and  generous  charms.  When 
the  men  gazed  upon  her  they  gasped ;  when  the  women 
gazed  upon  her  their  hearts  sank  low  with  envy. 

How  am  I  to  describe  her  dress  ?  I  know  that  her  head 
was  made  in  what  they  called  the  English  fashion,  with  a 
structure  of  lace,  thin  wires  and  round  rolls  on  cushions, 
with  ringlets  at  the  sides  and  pinned  to  a  small  cap  on  the 
top. 

All  I  can  safely  say  about  her  dress  is  that  she  wore  a 
gown  of  cherry-coloured  silk,  with  gold  flowers  over  a 
petticoat  of  pink  silk  adorned  by  a  kind  of  network  of 
gold  lace;  that  her  sleeves  were  wide  with  a  quantity  of  lace 
— I  have  never  carried  a  cargo  of  lace,  and  therefore  I  know 
not  its  vaule ;  that  her  gloves  were  of  white  silk ;  that  her 
arms  were  loaded  with  bracelets  which  clanged  and  clashed 
when  she  moved ;  and  that  chains  of  gold  hung  round  her 
neck  and  over  her  shoulders. 

The  master  of  ceremonies  received  us  with  distinction. 

"  Captain  Crowle,"  he  said,  loudly,  "  you  have  too  long 
withheld  your  lovely  ward  from  the  assembly  of  the  spa. 


MOLLY'S  FIRST  MINUET  123 

I  would  invite  her  to  dance  the  last  minuet  with  Mr.  Pen- 
tecrosse." 

All  this  had  been  arranged  beforehand.  The  people  gazed 
curiously,  and  began  to  press  around  us  as  I  advanced  with 
Molly's  hand  in  mine. 

"  Be  not  abashed,  Jack,"  whispered  the  old  captain. 
"  They  know  not  what  to  think.  Show  them  how  the 
dance  should  be  done.  Slide  and  sprawl,  my  lad.  Sprawl 
with  a  will  and  both  together,"  he  added,  hoarsely,  "with 
a  yo-heave-ho  !  " 

Then  the  music  began  again,  and  Molly  stood  opposite 
to  me — and  the  dance  began. 

For  my  own  part  I  obeyed  the  captain's  admonition.  I 
endeavoured  to  forget  the  people  who  were  looking  on — I 
tried  to  think  that  we  were  rehearsing  in  the  garden — and 
feeling  confidence  return,  I  began  to  slide  and  sprawl  with 
a  will. 

All  the  people  were  gathered  round  us  in  a  circle.  The 
ladies,  holding  their  fans  before  their  faces,  tittered  and 
giggled  audibly.  The  men,  for  their  part,  laughed  openly, 
making  observations  not  intended  to  be  good-natured. 
They  were  laughing  at  me  !  And  I  was  getting  on,  as  I 
believed,  so  well.  However,  I  did  not  know  the  cause  of 
their  merriment,  and  carried  on  the  sprawling  with  a 
greater  will  than  ever. 

I  am  sorry  now,  whenever  I  think  upon  it,  that  Molly 
had  not  a  better  partner.  For  my  performance,  which  was 
quite  correct,  and  in  every  particular  exactly  what  Mr. 
Prappet  had  taught  me,  was  distinguished,  I  learned  after- 
wards, by  a  certain  exaggeration  of  gesture  due  to  my  de- 
sire to  be  correct,  which  made  the  dance  ridiculous.  If 
only  I  had  been  permitted  to  give  them  a  hornpipe  !  What 
had  I,  a  mere  tarpaulin,  as  they  say,  to  do  with  fine 
clothes,  fashionable  sliding  and  sprawling,  and  the  pretence 
of  fashionable  manners  ? 

You  must  not  think  that  Molly,  though  it  was  her  first 
appearance  in  public,  though  she  wore  these  fine  things  for 
the  first  time,  though  all  eyes  were  upon  her,  was  in  the 
least  degree  abashed.  She  bore  herself  with  modesty  and 
an  assumed  unconsciousness  of  what  people  were  saying 
and  how  they  were  looking  at  her,  which  certainly  did  her 


124  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

great  credit.  And  I  am  quite  sure  that,  whatever  my  own 
performance,  hers  was  full  of  grace  and  ease,  and  the 
dignity  which  makes  this  dance  so  fit  for  great  lords  and 
ladies  and  so  unfit  for  rustic  swains  and  shepherdesses.  She 
smiled  upon  her  partner  as  sweetly  as  if  we  were  together 
in  the  garden ;  she  played  her  fan  as  prettily  as  if  we  were 
rehearsing  the  dance  with  mirth  and  merriment — it  was  a 
costly  fan,  with  paintings  upon  it  and  a  handle  set  with 
pearls. 

The  dance  was  finished  at  last,  and  I  led  my  partner  to 
the  end  of  the  room,  where  the  maids  sat  all  in  a  row  with 
white  aprons  and  white  caps — among  them  Molly's  woman, 
Nigra — to  repair  any  disorder  to  the  head  or  to  the  dress 
caused  by  the  active  movements  of  the  dance. 

And  then  they  all  began  to  talk.  I  could  hear  fragments 
and  whole  sentences.  They  were  talking  about  us. 

"  Who  is  she,  then  ? "  asked  one  lady,  impatiently. 
"  Where  does  she  come  from  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  a  sea  nymph,"  replied  a  gentleman,  gallantly, 
"  brought  from  the  ocean  by  the  god  Neptune,  who  stands 
over  yonder.  One  can  smell  the  seaweed." 

"  And  the  gems  and  chains  come,  I  suppose,  from  old 
wrecks." 

"  Or,"  said  the  ancient  beau,  Sir  Harry,  u  a  wood  nymph 
from  the  train  of  Diana.  In  that  case  the  old  gentleman 
may  be  the  god  Pan.  The  nymphs  of  Diana,  it  appears, 
have  lately  taken  lessons  in  the  fashionable  dance.  As 
yet,  unfortunately "  He  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  I  cannot  choose  but  hear,  Jack,"  said  Molly.  "  Let 
us  make  as  if  we  heard  nothing." 

"  She  is  an  actress,"  said  another  lady.  "  I  saw  her  last 
night  in  the  play.  She  personated  an  impudent  maidserv- 
ant. The  chains  and  gems  are  false  ;  one  can  see  that  with 
half  an  eye.  They  are  what  those  vagabond  folk  call 
stage  properties." 

Yet  another  took  up  the  parable.  "  She  should  be  put 
to  the  door,  or  she  should  stand  in  a  white  apron  with  the 
maids.  What  ?  We  are  decent  and  respectable  ladies,  I 
hope." 

"  They  are  not  gems  at  all,"  observed  a  young  fellow, 
anxious  to  display  his  wit.  "  They  are  the  lamps  from  the 


MOLLY'S  FIRST  MINUET  125 

garden.  She  has  cut  them  down  and  hung  them  round 
herself.  See  the  pretty  colours — red — green — blue." 

"  Let  her  put  them  back  again,  then,  and  leave  the  com- 
pany into  which  she  dares  to  intrude."  This  was  the 
spiteful  person  who  had  seen  her  on  the  stage  and  knew  her 
for  one  of  the  strollers.  The  resentment  of  the  ladies 
against  a  woman  who  presumed  to  be  more  finely  dressed 
than  themselves,  and  to  display  more  jewels  than  they  them- 
selves possessed,  or  even  hoped  to  possess,  was  deeper  and 
louder  than  one  could  believe  possible.  Yet  this  was  a 
polite  assembly,  and  these  ladies  had  learned  the  manners 
which  we  are  taught  to  copy,  at  a  distance — we  who  are 
not  gentlefolk. 

"  Jack,"  said  Molly,  "  these  are  the  flouts  of  which  the 
captain  warned  us.  Lead  me  round  the  room.  Right 
through  the  middle  of  them,  so  that  they  may  see  with  half 
an  eye  how  false  are  my  jewels." 

I  obeyed.  They  fell  back,  making  a  lane  for  us,  and 
talking  about  us  after  we  passed  through  them,  without  the 
least  affectation  of  a  whisper. 

They  had  an  opportunity,  however,  of  seeing  the  dress 
and  the  trappings  more  closely. 

"  My  dear,"  said  one,  "  the  jewels  are  real.  I  am  sure 
they  are  real.  On  the  stage  they  wear  large  glass  things. 
Those  are  brilliants  of  the  first  water  in  her  hair,  and  those 
are  true  pearls  about  her  neck." 

"  And  her  dress,"  said  another,  "  is  of  the  finest  silk ; 
and  did  you  see  the  gold  lace  in  front  of  her  petticoat  ? 
The  dress  and  the  jewels,  they  must  be  worth — oh !  worth 
a  whole  estate.  Who  can  she  be  ?  " 

"Such  a  woman,"  observed  an  elderly  matron  very 
sweetly,  "  would  probably  be  ashamed  to  say  where  she 
found  those  things.  Oh  !  But  the  master  of  the  cere- 
monies must  be  warned.  She  must  not  be  tolerated  here 
again." 

"  How  kind  they  are,  Jack  !  "  whispered  Molly. 

"  Who  is  the  fellow  with  her  ?  "  I  heard  next. 

"  He  sells  flounders  and  eels  in  the  market.  I  have 
seen  him  in  a  blue  coat  and  long  white  sleeves  and  an 
apron." 

"  No.     He  is  a  clerk  in  a  counting-house." 


126  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Not  at  all.  The  fellow,  like  the  girl,  belongs  to  the 
strollers.  I  saw  him  last  night  laying  a  carpet  on  the 
stage." 

u  A  personable  fellow,  with  a  well  turned  leg."  This 
compliment  made  me  blush.  "  It  is  his  misfortune  that  he 
must  be  coupled  with  so  impudent  a  baggage." 

"  You  sec,  Jack,"  said  Molly,  "  it  all  comes  back  to 
me." 

So  we  went  on  walking  round  the  room,  pretending  to 
hear  nothing.  We  met  Victory,  also  walking  round  the 
room  with  her  beau,  a  young  merchant  of  the  town.  She, 
fortunate  girl  !  had  no  jewels  with  which  to  excite  the 
envy,  hatred,  and  malice  of  the  ladies.  She  was  un- 
molested, though  not  a  gentlewoman  by  station. 

"  Molly,"  she  said,  "  you  are  splendid.  I  have  never 
seen  such  a  show  of  jewels.  But  you  will  drive  them  mad 
with  envy.  Hateful  creatures  !  I  see  them  turning  green. 
The  minuet  was  beautiful,  my  dear.  Oh !  Jack,  you 
made  me  laugh.  Never  was  seen  such  posturing.  The 
men  are  angry,  because  they  think  you  meant  to  make  them 
ridiculous." 

Thus  may  one  learn  unpalatable  truth,  even  from  friends. 
My  "  posturing,"  then,  as  the  girl  called  it,  was  ridiculous. 
And  I  thought  my  performance  correct,  and  quite  in  the 
style  of  the  highest  fashion  ! 

Then  the  captain  joined  in.  "Famous!"  he  said. 
"  Jack,  you  rolled  about  like  a  porpoise  at  the  bows. 
Never  believe  that  a  sailor  cannot  show  the  way  at  a  dance. 
Molly,  my  dear,  you  were  not  so  brisk  as  Jack.  But  it 
was  very  well,  very  well,  indeed.  The  women  cannot  con- 
tain themselves  for  spite  and  envy.  What  did  I  tell  you, 
my  dear  ? " 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MOLLY'S  COUNTRY  DANCE 

MEANTIME  another  kind  of  conversation  was  going  on, 
which  we  could  not  hear. 

"  My  lord,"  the  poet  bustled  up,  with  his  cringing  famil- 
iarity. "  Yonder  is  the  heiress  of  whom  I  spoke." 

"  Humph  !  She  is  well  enough  for  a  rustical  beauty. 
Her  shape  is  good,  if  too  full  for  the  fashion ;  her  cheeks 
bespeak  the  dairy,  and  her  shoulders  tell  of  the  milking 
pail.  Why  does  she  wear  as  many  jewels  and  charms  as 
an  antiquated  duchess  at  a  coronation  ?  I  suppose  they 
are  real.  But  there  are  too  many  of  them." 

"  They  are  real.  I  would  vouch  for  them,  my  lord,"  he 
added  earnestly.  "  All  that  I  have  told  you  is  most  true. 
A  greater  heiress  you  will  not  find  in  the  whole  country. 
Even  with  the  jewels  upon  her  she  could  buy  up  all  the 
women  in  the  room." 

"  I  would  make  sure  upon  that  point.  They  say  that 
she  has  ships,  lands " 

"  And  money.  Accumulations.  My  lord,  if  you  will 
not  take  my  word  for  it — why  should  you  ? — ask  her  guard- 
ian. There  he  stands." 

"  The  old  salt  now  beside  her,  like  a  Cerberus  of  the 
quarter-deck  ?  Who  is  the  other — the  fellow  who  danced 
with  her — his  actions  like  those  of  a  graceful  elephant  ?  Is 
he  one  of  her  lovers  ?  " 

"  She  has  no  lovers.  Her  guardian  permits  none.  The 
young  lady  has  been  kept  in  the  house.  That  man  is  her 
servant;  he  is  nothing  but  a  mate  in  one  of  her  ships. 
Captain  Crowle  would  not  allow  a  fellow  of  that  position 
to  make  love  to  his  ward." 

"  Humph  !  "  said  his  lordship.  "  Bring  the  old  man 
here." 

The  captain  obeyed  the  summons  somewhat  abashed. 
But  my  lord  put  him  at  his  ease.  "You  may  retire,  Mr. 

127 


i28  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Semple.  I  would  converse  with  Captain  Crowle."  Then 
he  turned  to  the  captain  with  the  greatest  affability. 

"  Our  good  friend,  Mr.  Semple,  tells  me,  captain,  that 
yonder  beauty — the  toast,  if  I  mistake  not,  of  our  young 
gentleman  to-night — is  none  other  than  your  ward." 

"  At  your  service,  my  lord." 

"Nay,  captain.  It  is  I  who  should  be  at  her  service. 
Frankly,  she  does  honour  to  your  town.  Had  we  discov- 
ered Miss  Molly  there  would  have  been  no  need  to  discuss 
the  magical  waters  of  the  spa.  May  I  inquire  into  the 
name  and  conditions  of  her  family  ?  " 

"  As  for  her  name,  sir,  it  is  plain  Molly  Miller.  As  for 
her  parentage,  her  father  was  a  ship  owner  and  a  merchant. 
Though  a  citizen  and  a  free  man  of  Lynn,  he  was  as  sub- 
stantial a  man  as  may  be  found  in  the  port  of  London. 
Her  mother,  my  first  cousin,  was  the  daughter  and  the 
granddaughter  and  the  sister  and  the  cousin  of  men  who 
have  been  captains  in  the  merchant  service  of  Lynn — for 
many  generations.  Most  of  them  lie  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea.  We  are  plain  folk,  my  lord,  and  homely.  But  Prov- 
idence hath  thought  fit  to  bless  our  handiwork,  and — you 
see  my  ward  before  you — I  hope  she  does  not  shame  the 
company  ?  " 

"  On  the  contrary,  Captain  Crowle,  she  adorns  and 
beautifies  the  company  not  only  with  her  good  looks,  which 
are  singular  and  extraordinary,  but  also  with  her  fine  dress 
and  her  jewels,  which  have  won  for  her  already  the  envy 
of  every  woman  in  the  assembly. 

"  There  are  as  many  jewels  in  the  locker  as  have  come 
out  of  it  for  to-night,"  said  the  captain  sturdily. 

"  Ay  ?  Ay  ?  And  there  are  ships,  I  hear — many  ships. 
Our  friend  Mr.  Semple  speaks  of  the  lady's  wealth  with 
as  much  respect  as  he  speaks  of  her  beauty." 

"  He  well  may — Molly  is  the  greatest  shipowner  of 
Lynn.  She  is  also  owner  of  many  houses  in  the  town  and 
of  many  broad  acres  outside  the  town.  And  she  will 
have,  when  she  marries,  in  addition,  a  fortune  of  many 
thousand  pounds." 

"  She  is,  then,  indeed,  an  heiress.  I  wish  her,  for  your 
sake,  Captain  Crowle,  a  worthy  husband.  But  it  is  a  grave 
responsibility.  There  are  hawks  about  always  looking  for 


MOLLY'S  COUNTRY  DANCE  129 

a  rich  wife — to  restore  fortunes  battered  by  evil  courses. 
You  must  take  care,  Captain  Crowle." 

"  I  mean  to  take  care." 

"  Perhaps  among  the  merchants  of  this  port."  The 
captain  shook  his  head. 

"  Or  among  the  gentlemen  of  Norfolk."  The  captain 
shook  his  head. 

"  They  drink  too  hard — and  they  live  too  hard." 

"  Perhaps  among  the  scholars  and  divines  of  Cambridge." 

"  They  are  not  fit  mates  for  a  lively  girl." 

"  Captain,  I  perceive  that  you  are  difficult  to  please. 
Even  for  your  charming  ward  you  must  not  expect  a  mira- 
cle in  the  creation  of  a  new  Adam  fit  for  this  new  Eve. 
Be  reasonable,  Captain  Crowle."  His  lordship  spoke  so 
pleasantly  and  laughed  with  so  much  good  nature  that  the 
captain  was  encouraged,  and  spoke  out  his  mind  as  to  an 
old  friend. 

"  No,  no,  I  want  no  miracle.  I  desire  that  my  girl,  who 
is  a  loving  girl,  with  a  heart  of  gold,  should  be  wooed  and 
married  by  a  gentleman  whom  she  will  respect  and  honour 
— not  a  drinker  nor  a  gambler  nor  a  profligate.  She  will 
bring  him  a  fortune  which  is  great  even  for  persons  of 
quality." 

My  lord  bowed  gravely.  "You  are  right,  Captain 
Crowle,  to  entertain  these  opinions.  Do  not  change  them 
under  any  temptations.  One  would  only  wish  that  the 
lady  may  find  such  a  mate.  But,  captain,  remember — I 
say  it  not  in  an  unfriendly  spirit — class  weds  with  class. 
Sir,  they  are  about  to  begin  the  country  dance,  let  us 
look  on." 

The  company  began  to  take  their  places. 

"Captain  Crowle,"  Lord  Fylingdale  pointed  to  the 
dancers,  repeating  his  words :  "  Class  weds  with  class — 
class  dances  with  class.  At  the  head  of  the  set  stands  Sir 
Harry  the  Evergreen.  His  partner  is  a  lady  of  good 
family.  Next  to  them  are  others  of  good  family.  Those 
young  people  who  are  now  taking  their  places  lower  down 
are What  are  they  ?  " 

"Two  of  them  are  the  daughters  of  the  doctor  and  the 
vicar — good  girls  both." 

"  Good   girls,    doubtless.     But,    Captain    Crowle,    not 


i3o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

gentlefolk,  and  there,  I  observe,  your  lovely  ward,  Captain 
Crowle,  takes  her  place  modestly  and  last  of  all.  Who 
dances  with  her  ?  " 

"  It  is  young  John  Pentecrosse,  son  of  our  schoolmaster, 
mate  on  board  one  of  Molly's  ships.  He  is  her  playfellow. 
They  have  been  together  since  childhood." 

"  Perhaps  he  would  be  more.  Take  care,  captain — 
take  care."  So  he  turned  away  as  if  no  longer  interested 
in  the  girl.  But  Sam  Semple  remained  behind. 

"  Sir,"  he  said  to  the  captain,  "  his  lordship  took  partic- 
ular notice  of  your  ward.  l  Miss  Molly,'  said  my  lord,  c  is 
a  rustic  nymph  dressed  for  the  court  of  Venus.  Never 
before  have  I  seen  a  face  of  more  heavenly  beauty.'  Those 
were  his  lordship's  very  words."  But  Sam  Semple  was 
always  a  ready  liar. 

11  Ay,  my  lad.  They  are  fine  words ;  but  fine  words 
butter  no  parsnips.  'Class  weds  with  class,'  that's  what 
he  said  to  me." 

"  Surely,  captain,  with  such  a  face  and  such  a  fortune 
Miss  Molly  is  raised  to  the  rank  .  .  .  say,  of  count- 
ess. Would  a  coronet  satisfy  you  for  your  ward  ?  I 
mean  nothing  " — here  he  glanced  at  the  figure  of  his  lord- 
ship. "  Nothing — of  course  not — what  could  I  mean  ? 
How  well  a  coronet,  captain,  would  become  that  lovely 
brow  ! " 

Everybody  knows  that  the  country  dance  should  con- 
tinue until  the  couple  at  the  bottom  have  arrived  at  the  top 
and  have  had  their  turn.  Everybody  knows,  too,  that 
the  country  dance,  unlike  the  minuet,  is  joined  by  the 
whole  company,  with  only  so  much  deference  to  rank  as 
to  give  the  better  sort  the  highest  places  at  the  beginning. 
They  were  given  this  evening  to  the  ladies  of  the  county 
who  could  boast  of  their  gentility,  and,  to  do  them  justice, 
did  boast  loudly  of  it,  comparing  their  own  families  and 
that  of  their  husbands  with  those  of  other  ladies  present. 
It  seems  to  me,  indeed,  that  it  is  better  to  have  no  coat  of 
arms  and  no  grandfathers  if  the  possession  leads  to  so  much 
jealousy,  backbiting,  and  slander.  All  these  ladies,  how- 
ever, united  in  one  point,  viz,  that  of  scorn  and  contempt 
for  those  girls  of  Lynn  who  ventured  to  join  the  assembly 
or  to  walk  in  the  gardens.  They  showed  this  contempt  in 


MOLLY'S  COUNTRY  DANCE  131 

many  ways,  especially  by  whispering  and  giggling  when 
one  of  the  natives  passed  them.  "Is  it  tar  that  one  smells 
so  strong  ? "  if  one  of  the  sea  captain's  daughters  was 
standing  near,  they  would  ask.  Or  "  Madam,  I  think 
there  must  be  an  apothecary's  shop  in  the  assembly,"  if  it 
was  the  doctor's  daughter,  Amanda  Worship.  And  at  the 
country  dance  they  refused  to  take  the  hand  of  these 
girls. 

Their  greatest  possible  insult,  however,  was  offered  to 
Molly.  It  was  a  good  dance  tune,  played  with  spirit — 
the  tune  they  call  "  Hey  go  mad  !  "  We  moved  gradually 
higher  up.  At  last  we  stood  at  the  top,  and  our  turn  came 
to  end  the  dance. 

Imagine  our  discomfiture  at  this  point  when  the  whole 
of  these  kind  ladies  and  their  partners  left  their  places  and 
so  broke  up  the  dance.  We  were  left  alone  at  the  top, 
while  at  the  bottom  were  the  other  two  girls  of  Lynn, 
Victory  and  Amanda,  with  their  partners. 

"  It's  a  shame  !  "  cried  Victory,  aloud.  "  Do  they  call 
these  manners  ?  " 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Amanda,  also  aloud ;  "  it's  because 
you  outshine  them  all,  Molly." 

But  the  mischief  was  done,  and  the  dance  was  broken  up. 

Molly  flushed  crimson.  I  thought  she  would  say  some- 
thing sharp.  Nay,  I  have  known  her  cuff  and  box  the  ear 
of  man  or  maid  for  less,  and  I  feared  at  this  moment  that 
she  would  in  like  manner  avenge  the  insult.  But  she  re- 
strained herself,  and  said  nothing. 

Meantime,  the  ladies  who  had  committed  this  breach  of 
polite  manners  stood  together  and  laughed  aloud,  pretend- 
ing some  great  joke  among  themselves ;  but  their  eyes 
showed  the  nature  of  the  joke  and  this  triumph  over  a 
woman  who,  as  Amanda  said,  outshone  them  all. 

"  Your  turn  will  come,"  I  said. 

"I  think,  Jack,"  said  my  girl,  quickly,  "that  my  chair 
must  be  waiting.  The  captain  said  that  I  was  to  go  after 
the  first  country  dance." 

But  a  great  surprise  awaited  her  and  the  ladies  who  had 
played  her  this  agreeable  and  diverting  trick,  for  Lord 
Fylingdale  stepped  forward,  the  people  falling  back  to  make 
way  for  him.  He  drew  himself  up  before  Molly  and 


1 32  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

made  her  a  profound  bow.  The  captain  walked  beside 
him,  evidently  by  invitation. 

"  Miss  Molly,"  he  said  loudly,  "  your  worthy  guardian 
has  informed  me  of  your  name  and  quality.  We  wanted, 
in  the  company  at  the  spa,  to  make  it  complete — the 
heiress  of  Lynn.  It  is  fitting  that  this  borough,  which  is 
always  young  and  flourishing,  should  be  represented  by  one 
graced  with  so  many  charms." 

Molly  curtsied  with  more  dignity  than  one  could  have 
expected.  See  what  a  dancing  master  can  effect  in  a  fort- 
night. "  Your  lordship,"  she  said,  "  does  me  too  much 
honour.  The  reception  which  I  have  met  with  from  these 
ladies  had  not,  I  confess,  prepared  me  for  your  kindness." 

"  I  shall  humbly  ask  the  favour  of  a  dance  with  you, 
Miss  Molly,  on  the  next  occasion."  The  fans  were  now 
all  agitation;  'twas  like  a  flutter  in  a  dovecot.  "We 
shall  see  if  we  shall  be  deserted  when  our  turn  comes." 
Some  of  the  ladies  hid  their  faces  with  their  fan ;  some 
blushed  for  shame ;  some  bit  their  lips  with  vexation ;  all 
darted  looks  of  envy  and  hatred  upon  the  cause  of  the 
open  rebuke. 

"  Sir  " — Lord  Fylingdale  turned  severely  to  the  master  of 
the  ceremonies — "the  rules  of  polite  society  should  be 
obeyed  at  Lynn  as  much  as  at  Bath  and  Tunbridge  Wells. 
Look  to  it,  sir ;  I  request  you." 

So  saying,  he  took  Molly's  hand,  and  led  her  to  the  chair 
outside. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE    CARD    ROOM 

WHEN  Molly's  chair  was  carried  away,  Lord  Fylingdale 
returned  to  the  assembly.  The  music  had  begun  another 
moving  and  merry  tune — that  called  "  Richmond  Ball  " — 
the  couples  were  taking  their  places,  the  young  fellows 
dancing  already  as  they  stood  waiting,  with  hands  and  feet 
and  even  shoulders  all  together,  their  partners  laughing  at 
them,  and,  with  hands  upon  their  frocks,  pretending  to  set 
in  the  joy  and  the  merriment  of  their  hearts.  And  I  be- 
lieve that  the  withdrawal  of  Molly  made  them  all  much 
happier. 

Two  or  three  of  the  ladies  standing  apart  were  discuss- 
ing the  public  rebuke  just  administered.  They  were  angry, 
being  ladies  who  conceited  themselves  on  the  score  of 
manners,  and  were  proud  of  their  families. 

"  Not  the  whole  House  of  Lords,"  said  one,  loud  enough 
for  his  lordship  to  hear,  "  shall  make  me  give  my  hand  to  a 
sailor's  wench.  Let  her  stick  to  her  tar  and  her  pitch.  A 
pretty  thing,  indeed  !  " 

"  I  hope,"  said  another,  agitating  her  fan  violently, "  that 
his  lordship  does  not  put  the  ladies  of  Norfolk  on  the  same 
level  as  the  girls  of  King's  Lynn." 

"  Dear  madam,"  said  a  third,  "  Lord  Fylingdale  called 
her  an  heiress — the  heiress  of  Lynn.  An  heiress  does  not 
carry  all  her  fortune  on  her  back.  Do  you  not  think — 
some  of  us  have  sons — that  we  might,  perhaps,  receive  this 
person  with  kindness  ?  " 

"  No,  madam.  I  will  not  be  on  any  terms  with  this 
creature.  In  my  family  we  consort  with  none  but  gentle- 
folk." 

"  Indeed,  madam !  But  a  hundred  years  ago  your 
family,  if  I  mistake  not,  were  ploughing  and  ditching  on 
the  farms  of  my  family." 

Molly  seemed  like   to  prove  a  firebrand   indeed.     Lord 


i34  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Fylingdale,  however,  passed  through  them  without  any  sign 
of  hearing  a  word.  He  looked  round ;  he  observed  that 
the  next  dance  had  begun,  and  that  every  lady  was  touch- 
ing the  hands  of  those  who  were  not  of  her  own  exalted 
family.  So  that  his  admonition  was  bearing  fruit.  He  then 
left  the  long  room  and  went  into  the  card  room.  Here  he 
found  the  Lady  Anastasia  sitting  at  a  table,  surrounded  by 
a  little  crowd  of  players.  She  held  the  bank.  In  the 
excitement  of  the  play  her  eyes  sparkled ;  her  bosom 
heaved ;  her  colour  went  and  came  visibly  beneath  the 
paint  on  her  cheeks ;  her  lips  became  pale  and  then  re- 
turned to  their  proper  colour;  she  rapped  the  table  with 
her  fingers.  She  was  enjoying,  in  fact,  the  rapture  which 
fills  the  heart  of  the  gambler  and  makes  play  the  only 
thing  desirable  in  life.  Perhaps  the  preacher  could  imag- 
ine no  greater  misery  for  the  gamester  than  a  heaven  in 
which  there  were  no  cards. 

The  game  which  the  Lady  Anastasia  introduced  to  these 
country  gentlemen  and  the  company  generally  was  one 
called  hazard,  which  is,  I  believe,  commonly  played  by 
gamesters  of  fashion.  Indeed,  as  was  afterwards  learned, 
this  very  lady  had  been  by  name  presented  by  the  grand 
jury  of  Middlesex  for  keeping  a  bank  at  the  game  of  hazard 
on  Sundays  against  all  comers.  At  Lynn  she  kept  the  bank 
every  evening  except  Sunday.  It  is  a  game  which,  more  than 
any  other,  is  said  to  lure  on  the  player,  so  that  a  man  who, 
out  of  simple  curiosity,  sets  a  guinea  and  calls  a  main,  finds 
himself,  after  a  few  evenings  of  alternating  fortune,  win- 
ning and  losing  in  turn,  so  much  attracted  by  the  game  that 
he  is  only  happy  when  he  is  playing.  I  know  not  how 
many  gamblers  for  life  were  made  during  the  short  time 
when  this  lady  held  the  bank.  Wonderful  to  relate,  no 
one  seemed  to  consider  that  she  was  doing  anything  wrong. 
She  was  seen  at  morning  prayers  every  day ;  she  drank  the 
waters  of  the  spa;  she  walked  in  the  gardens,  taking  tea 
and  talking  scandal  with  the  greatest  affability ;  and  in  the 
evenings,  when  she  kept  the  bank,  it  was  with  a  face  so 
full  of  smiles,  with  so  much  appearance  of  rejoicing  when 
a  player  won,  and  so  much  kindness  and  sympathy  when  a 
player  lost,  that  no  one  asked  whether  she  herself  won  or 
lost. 


THE  CARD  ROOM  135 

For  my  own  part,  I  do  not  understand  how  the  bank  can 
be  held  without  great  risks  and  losses.  But  I  have  been 
assured,  by  one  who  knows,  that  the  chances  are  greatly  in 
favour  of  the  bank,  and  that  this  lady,  so  highly  placed, 
and  of  such  charming  manners,  was  simply  playing  to  win, 
and  did  win  very  largely,  if  not  every  evening,  then  in  the 
course  of  a  week  or  a  month. 

"  We  are  all  friends  here,"  she  said,  taking  her  place  and 
dividing  the  pile  of  money,  which  constituted  her  bank, 
into  two  heaps,  right  and  left.  At  her  right  hand  stood  a 
man  of  cold  and  harsh  appearance,  who  took  no  interest  in 
the  game,  but,  like  a  machine,  cried  the  main  and  the 
chance,  and  gave  or  took  the  odds,  and,  with  a  rake,  either 
swept  the  stakes  into  the  bank  when  the  player  lost,  or 
pushed  out  the  amount  won  by  the  player  to  his  seat. 
They  called  him  the  croupier^  which  is,  I  believe,  a  French 
word.  He  came  from  London. 

"Since  we  are  all  friends  here,"  Lady  Anastasia  went 
on,  "  we  need  not  observe  the  precautions  that  are  neces- 
sary in  London,  where  players  have  been  known  to  with- 
draw part  of  their  stakes  when  they  have  lost,  and  to  add 
more  when  they  have  won." 

Among  the  players  seated  at  the  table — there  were  many 
others  standing,  who  ventured  a  guinea  or  so,  and,  having 
won  or  lost,  went  away — was  the  ancient  youth  of  fashion, 
Sir  Harry,  who  had  now  exchanged  the  dance  for  the  card 
room.  There  was  also  the  gentleman  of  loud  voice  and 
boisterous  manners,  called  Colonel  Lanyon. 

Sir  Harry  was  the  first  to  call  for  the  dice  box,  and  the 
dice. 

"  Seven's  the  main,"  he  cried,  laying  as  many  guineas  on 
the  table.  He  then  rattled  the  dice  and  threw.  "  Five  !  " 
he  cried. 

"  Five  !  "  repeated  the  croupier.  "  Seven's  the  main, 
five  is  the  chance." 

The  rule  of  the  game  is  that  the  player  throws  again 
and  continues  to  throw.  If  he  throws  seven  first,  he  loses ; 
if  he  throws  five  first,  he  wins.  But  there  are  introduced 
certain  other  rules,  so  that  the  game  is  not  so  easy  and  sim- 
ple as  it  seems.  Some  throws  are  called  "  nicks,"  and  some 
are  called  "  crabs."  If  a  nick  is  thrown,  the  caster  pays 


136  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

to  the  bank  one  main.  If  crabs,  the  dice  box  goes  to  an- 
other player.  But  any  bystander  may  bet  on  the  odds.  I 
know  not  myself  what  the  odds  are,  but  the  regular  player 
knows,  and  the  croupier  calls  them  ;  in  some  cases  the  by- 
standers may  not  bet  against  the  bank,  but  I  do  not  know 
these  cases.  I  know  only  the  simple  rules,  having  seen  it 
played  in  the  card  room. 

Lord  Fylingdale  looked  on  with  an  air  of  cold  indiffer- 
ence. He  saw,  if  he  observed  anything,  that  Colonel 
Lanyon  and  Sir  Harry  were  playing  high,  but  that  the  rest 
of  the  company  were  timidly  venturing  single  guineas  at 
each  cast.  Some  of  them  were  women,  and  these  were  the 
fiercest  and  the  most  intent  upon  the  game.  Most  of  them 
were  young  men,  those  who  commonly  spent  their  days 
in  all  those  kinds  of  sport  which  allow  of  bets  and  the 
winning  and  losing  of  money.  We  have  heard  of  gaming 
tables  in  London  at  which  whole  fortunes  are  sometimes 
lost  at  a  single  sitting ;  of  young  men  who  sit  down  rich 
and  rise  up  poor — even  destitute.  The  young  men  of 
Norfolk  certainly  do  not  gamble  away  their  estates  in  this 
blind  fashion ;  but  it  must  be  owned  that  their  chief  pleas- 
ures are  those  on  which  they  can  place  a  wager,  and  that 
the  pastimes  which  do  not  allow  of  a  bet  are  not  regarded 
with  favour.  For  the  ladies  of  the  towns  a  game  of  quad- 
rille or  whist  is  the  amusement  whenever  two  or  three  can 
be  got  together.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed  that  the 
gentlemen  are  fonder  of  drinking  away  their  evenings  than 
of  playing  cards.  The  games  of  ombre,  hazard,  basset, 
faro,  and  others  in  which  large  sums  of  money  are  staked, 
are  commonly  played  by  the  people  of  the  town,  not  of  the 
country. 

Lord  Fylingdale  stood  for  a  while  looking  over  the  table. 
Then  he  pulled  out  his  purse — a  long  and  well-filled  purse 
— and  laid  down  twenty  guineas,  calling  the  main  "  Nine." 
He  threw.  "  Nick,"  cried  the  croupier  in  his  hard,  mo- 
notonous note.  His  lordship  had  lost.  He  took  out  an- 
other handful  of  guineas  and  laid  them  on  the  table.  Again 
he  lost.  The  players  looked  up,  expectant.  They  wanted 
to  see  how  a  noble  lord  would  receive  this  reverse  of  for- 
tune. In  their  own  case  it  would  have  been  met  with 
curses  on  their  luck,  deep  and  loud  and  repeated.  To  their 


THE  CARD  ROOM  137 

astonishment  he  showed  no  sign  of  interest  in  the  event. 
He  only  put  up  his  purse  and  resumed  his  attitude  of  look- 
ing on. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  music  stopped  j  the  dancing  was 
over.  Nothing  remained  but  the  punch  with  which  some 
of  the  company  concluded  the  evening.  It  was  provided 
at  the  expense  of  the  gentlemen. 

The  players  began  to  recount  their  experiences.  For- 
tune, which  had  smiled  on  a  few,  seemed  to  have  frowned 
on  most. 

Then  Lord  Fylingdale  offered  another  surprise. 

"  Ladies,"  he  said,  "  I  venture  to  offer  you  the  refresh- 
ment of  a  glass  of  punch.  Gentlemen,  may  I  hope  that 
you  will  join  the  ladies  in  this  conclusion  to  the  evening? 
I  would  willingly,  if  you  will  allow  me,  drink  to  your  good 
luck  at  the  card  table.  Let  the  county  of  Norfolk  show 
that  Fortune  which  has  favoured  this  part  of  the  country  so 
signally  in  other  respects  has  also  been  as  generous  in  this. 
I  am  not  myself  a  Norfolk,  but  a  Gloucestershire  man.  I 
come  from  the  other  side  of  the  country.  Let  me,  how- 
ever, in  this  gathering  of  all  that  is  polite  and  of  good 
family  in  the  county  be  regarded  as  no  stranger,  but  a 
friend." 

By  this  time  the  punch  was  brought  in,  two  steaming 
great  bowls.  The  gentlemen  ladled  it  out  for  the  ladies 
and  for  themselves  and  all  stood  expectant. 

41 1  give  you  a  toast,"  said  his  lordship.  "We  are  en- 
tertained by  the  ancient  and  venerable  borough  of  Lynn ; 
we  must  show  our  gratitude  to  our  entertainers.  I  am  in- 
formed that  these  rooms,  these  gardens,  the  music  and  the 
singers,  together  with  the  pump  room,  have  all  been  de- 
signed, built,  collected,  and  arranged  for  the  company, 
namely,  ourselves.  Let  us  thank  the  good  people  of  Lynn. 
And,  since  the  town  has  sent  to  our  assembly  to-night  its 
loveliest  flower,  the  young  heiress  whom  I  shall  call  the 
Lady  of  Lynn,  let  us  drink  to  her  as  the  representative  of 
her  native  place.  Gentlemen,  I  offer  you  as  a  toast, c  Sweet 
Molly,  the  Lady  of  Lynn  ! ' " 

The  gentlemen  drank  it  with  enthusiasm,  the  ladies 
looked  at  each  other  doubtfully.  They  had  not  come  to 
Lynn  expecting  to  hear  the  beauty  of  a  girl  of  the  place, 


138  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  town  of  sailors,  ships,  quays,  cargoes,  casks,  cranes,  and 
merchants,  the  town  of  winding  streets  and  narrow  courts 
where  the  deserted  houses  were  falling  to  pieces.  The 
county  families  went  sometimes  to  Norwich,  where  there 
is  very  good  society ;  and  sometimes  to  Bury,  where  there 
are  assemblies  in  the  winter ;  but  no  ladies  ever  came  to 
Lynn,  where  there  were  no  assemblies,  no  card  parties,  and 
no  society. 

After  this  toast,  the  Lady  Anastasia  withdrew  with  the 
other  ladies.  Lord  Fylingdale  led  her  to  her  chair  and  then 
called  for  his  own. 

The  gentlemen  remained  sitting  over  their  punch  and 
talking. 

"  Who,"  said  one,  "  is  this  sweet  Molly  ?  Who  is  this 
great  heiress  ?  Who  is  the  Lady  of  Lynn  ?  " 

"I  never  knew,"  said  another,  "that  there  was  a  lady  in 
Lynn  at  all." 

"  You  have  been  in  the  card  room  all  the  evening,"  said 
another.  "  She  danced  the  last  minuet.  Where  can  she 
be  hidden  that  no  one  has  seen  her  before  ?  Gentlemen, 
'twas  a  vision  of  Venus  herself,  or  the  fair  Diana,  in  a  silk 
frock  and  a  flounced  petticoat,  with  pearls  and  diamonds, 
and  precious  stones.  An  heiress  ?  An  heiress  in  Lynn  ?  " 

The  poet,  Sam  Semple,  who  was  present,  pricked  up  his 
ears.  The  punch  had  begun  to  loosen  his  tongue. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  by  your  leave.  You  are  all 
strangers  at  Lynn  Regis.  Norwich  you  know,  and  Bury 
and  SwafFham,  and  perhaps  other  towns  in  the  county. 
But,  with  submission,  Lynn  you  do  not  know." 

"  Why,  sir,  as  for  not  knowing  Lynn,  what  can  a  body 
learn  of  the  place  that  is  worth  knowing  ?  " 

"You  think  that  it  is  a  poor  place,  with  a  few  colliers 
and  fishing  smacks,  and  a  population  of  sailors  and  vint- 
ners." The  poet  took  another  glass  of  punch  and  drank  it 
off  to  clear  his  head.  "  Well,  sir,  you  are  mistaken.  From 
Lynn  goes  forth  every  year  a  noble  fleet  of  ships.  Whither 
do  they  go  ?  To  all  the  ports  of  Europe.  From  Lynn 
they  go  out ;  to  Lynn  they  return.  To  whom  do  these 
ships  belong  ?  Is  a  ship  worth  nothing  ?  To  whom  do 
their  cargoes  belong  ?  Is  the  cargo  of  a  tall  three-master 
worth  nothing  ?  Now,  gentlemen,  if  most  of  these  ships 


THE  CARD  ROOM  139 

belong  to  one  girl ;  if  they  are  freighted  for  one  girl ;  if 
half  the  trade  of  Lynn  is  in  the  hands  of  this  girl's  guard- 
ian ;  if  for  twenty  years  the  revenues  from  the  trade  have 
been  rolling  up — what  is  that  girl  but  a  great  heiress  ?  " 

"  Is  that  the  case  with — with  sweet  Molly  ?  "  asked  a 
young  fellow  who  had  been  drinking  before  the  punch  ap- 
peared, and  now  spoke  with  a  thick  voice.  '  "Is  she  the 
heiress  and  the  Lady  of  Lynn  ?  " 

"  She  is  nothing  less,"  Sam  Semple  replied.  "  As  for 
her  fortune,  I  believe,  if  she  wished  it,  she  could  buy  up 
half  this  county." 

"And  she  is  unmarried.  .  .  .  Egad!"  it  was  the 
same  young  fellow  who  spoke,  "  he  will  be  a  lucky  man 
who  gets  her." 

"  A  lucky  man  indeed,"  said  Sam,  "  but  she  is  above 
your  reach,  let  me  tell  you,"  he  added,  impudently,  because 
the  other  was  a  gentleman. 

"  Above  my  reach  ?  Take  that,"  he  threw  the  glass  of 
punch  in  the  poet's  face.  "  Above  my  reach  ?  Mine  ? 
Who  the  devil  is  this  fellow  ?  The  owner  of  a  ship,  or  a 
dozen  ships,  with  their  stinking  cargoes  and  their  cheating 

trade,  above  my  reach  ?  Why "  Here  he  would 

have  fallen  upon  the  offender,  but  was  restrained  by  his 
friends. 

Sam  stood  open-mouthed,  looking  about  him  dumfound- 
ered,  the  punch  streaming  over  his  cheeks. 

"  You'd  best  go,  sir,"  said  one  of  them.  "  I  know  not 
who  you  are.  But,  if  you  are  a  gentleman  you  can  send 
your  friend  to-morrow.  If  not " — he  laughed — "  in  our 
country  if  a  gentleman  falls  out  with  one  whom  he  cannot 
fight  with  swords,  he  is  not  too  proud  to  meet  him  with 
stick  or  fist.  In  any  case  you  had  better  go — and  that 
without  delay." 

The  poet  turned  and  ran.  No  hostile  meeting  followed. 
Sam  could  not  send  a  challenge,  being  no  gentleman,  and, 
as  you  have  already  seen,  he  was  not  naturally  inclined  for 
the  ordeal  by  battle  in  any  other  form. 

The  young  man  was  one  Tom  Rising,  whose  estates  lay 
near  Swaffham.  He  was  well  known  as  the  best  and  most 
fearless  rider  in  the  whole  county ;  he  was  the  keenest 
sportsman ;  he  knew  where  to  find  fox,  hare,  badger,  ferret, 


i4o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

stoat,  or  weasel  j  he  knew  where  to  put  up  a  pheasant  or  a 
cover  of  partridges ;  he  could  play  at  all  manly  sports ;  he 
was  a  wild,  fearless,  reckless,  deboshed  young  fellow,  whom 
everybody  loved  and  everybody  feared ;  always  ready  with 
a  blow  or  an  oath ;  afraid  of  nothing  if  he  set  his  heart 
upon  anything.  You  shall  see  presently  that  he  set  his 
heart  upon  one  thing  and  that  he  failed.  For  the  rest,  a 
comely,  tall,  and  proper  young  man  of  four-and-twenty  or 
so,  whose  careless  dress,  disordered  necktie,  and  neglected 
head  sufficiently  indicated  his  habits,  even  if  his  wanton 
rolling  eyes,  loose  lip,  and  cheeks  always  flushed  with  wine, 
did  not  loudly  proclaim  the  manner  of  his  life  and  the  train 
of  his  thoughts. 

When  Sam  was  gone  he  turned  again  to  the  bowl. 

In  the  morning  it  was  reported  that  there  had  been 
wagers,  and  that  a  great  deal  of  money  had  been  won  and 
lost.  Some  said  that  Colonel  Lanyon,  one  of  the  gentle- 
men from  London,  had  lost  a  great  sum ;  others  said  that 
Tom  Rising  was  the  heaviest  loser.  I  judge  from  what  I 
now  know  that  Tom  Rising  lost,  that  evening,  more  than 
his  estates  would  bring  him  in  a  whole  quarter.  And  I  am 
further  of  opinion  that  Colonel  Lanyon  did  not  lose  any- 
thing except  a  piece  of  paper  with  some  figures  on  it,  which 
he  handed,  ostentatiously  proclaiming  the  amount,  which 
was  very  large,  to  his  honourable  friend,  Sir  Harry  Malyus, 
Baronet. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
HIS  LORDSHIP'S  INTENTIONS 

IN  the  morning  the  newly  laid  out  gardens  were  the  re- 
sort— after  prayers,  the  pump  room,  the  pastry  cook,  the 
bookseller,  and  the  draper — of  all  the  ladies  and  of  many 
of  the  men — those,  indeed,  who  preferred  the  pleasures  of 
society  and  the  discourse  of  the  ladies,  to  the  dull  talk  of  the 
Cambridge  fellows  and  the  canons  of  Ely  in  the  coffee 
house,  or  the  noisy  disputes  and  the  wagers  of  the  tavern, 
or  the  sport  of  the  cockpit.  The  gardens  became  the  haunt  of 
scandal  and  of  gossip ;  here  a  thousand  stories  were  invented ; 
here  characters  were  taken  away  and  reputations  dragged 
in  the  mud ;  the  ladies  in  their  morning  dress  walked  about 
under  the  trees  and  in  the  alleys,  diverting  themselves  as 
best  they  could.  At  eleven  the  music  played  in  the  gallery 
outside  the  long  room.  On  some  days  a  public  breakfast 
was  offered ;  on  other  days  there  was  a  lottery  or  raffle,  in 
which  everybody  took  a  huge  interest.  Sometimes  the 
company  were  content  to  walk  or  sit  under  the  trees,  talk- 
ing ;  sometimes  there  was  singing  in  the  long  room ;  or 
perhaps  the  Rev.  Mr.  Purdon  would  read  aloud  to  a  small 
circle  from  some  book  of  verse  or  of  romance ;  or  there 
were  parties  made  up  for  voyages  up  the  river;  or  a  play 
was  bespoke  by  the  general  consent.  In  a  word,  it  was 
the  resort  of  a  multitude  who  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  di- 
vert themselves ;  they  were  full  of  scandal  about  each 
other ;  a  young  fellow  could  not  squeeze  a  girl's  hand  but 
it  was  whispered  all  over  the  place  that  he  had  run  away 
with  her;  and  though  one  would  think,  to  hear  them,  that 
every  woman  of  the  company  was  ready  to  tear  to  pieces 
every  other  woman,  yet  they  assumed  so  pretty  a  disguise, 
and  professed  so  much  interest  and  affection  and  friendship 
for  each  other,  that  one  was  inclined  to  believe  the  scandal 
and  gossip  to  be  a  pretence  or  masque  to  hide  their  true 
feelings. 

141 


i42  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

It  was  natural  that  in  walking  about  the  gardens  the  peo- 
ple should  divide  themselves  into  parties  of  two,  or  three, 
or  more.  But  in  the  morning,  after  Molly's  first  appear- 
ance, these  parties  consisted  of  groups,  each  of  half  a  dozen 
and  more,  talking  about  last  night's  unexpected  apparition 
of  a  woman  more  finely  dressed  than  any  of  them,  with 
jewels  and  gold  chains  which  made  the  hearts  of  all  who 
beheld  to  sink  with  envy.  "  The  men,  they  say,  admired 
her  face.  Lord  Fylingdale  himself,  they  say,  toasted  her 
by  name  as  an  heiress.  What  kind  of  heiress  can  she  be  ? 
And  there  was  a  quarrel  about  her  over  the  punch.  Tom 
Rising  poured  the  whole  of  the  punch  bowl  upon  the  head 
of  a  gentleman  said  to  be  his  lordship's  secretary.  This 
morning  they  met  outside  the  walls.  The  gentleman  is 
run  through  the  body  and  cannot  live.  No,  through  the 
shoulder  and  will  recover.  I  heard  that  it  was  in  the  arm, 
and  that  he  will  be  well  again  in  a  week.  But  the  heiress 
— who  is  the  heiress  ? "  And  so  they  went  on.  You  may 
be  sure  that  Sam  Semple  found  it  prudent  to  keep  out  of 
the  way.  There  was,  therefore,  no  one  to  tell  these  curi- 
ous ladies  who  the  heiress  was,  or  what  her  fortune  might 
be.  Mostly  they  inclined  to  the  belief  that  a  thousand 
pounds  would  cover  the  whole  of  her  inheritance,  and  that 
Lord  Fylingdale  meant  no  more  than  an  act  of  politeness 
to  the  town,  which  certainly  had  done  its  best  to  entertain 
the  company.  And  so  on. 

Presently  there  appeared,  walking  side  by  side,  Lord 
Fylingdale  himself  and  Lady  Anastasia.  He  carried  his 
hat  under  his  arm,  and  his  cane  dangled  from  his  right 
wrist;  his  face  was  as  cold  and  as  devoid  of  emotion  as 
when  the  night  before  he  had  rebuked  the  company. 

They  passed  along  under  the  trees,  conversing.  When 
they  passed  or  met  any  others  they  lowered  their  voices. 
Their  conversation — I  will  tell  you  in  due  course  how  I 
learned  it — was  important  and  serious.  It  was  of  greater 
importance  to  Molly  and  to  me,  had  I  known  it,  than  one 
could  imagine  or  suspect.  And  this  was,  in  effect,  the 
substance  of  their  discourse. 

"  I  know,"  she  said,  "  that  you  have  some  design  in 
coming  to  Lynn,  and  that  you  intend  me  to  assist  you. 
Otherwise,  why  should  you  drag  me  here,  over  vile  roads, 


HIS  LORDSHIP'S  INTENTIONS  143 

to  a  low  lodging,  in  the  company  of  fox  hunters  and  their 
ladies  ?  Otherwise,  indeed,  why  should  you  come  here 
yourself?  " 

"The  healing  waters  of  the  spa,"  he  suggested  gravely. 

"You  have  nothing  the  matter  with  you.  Nothing  ever 
hurts  you.  If  other  men  drink  and  rake  all  night  they 
show  it  in  their  faces  and  their  swollen  bodies.  But  you — 
why  you  look  as  if  you  lived  like  a  saint  or  a  hermit  in  a 
cell." 

"  Yet — to  prevent  disease — to  anticipate,  so  to  speak." 

"  Ludovick,  you  have  no  longer  any  confidence  in  me. 
You  tell  me  to  come  here — I  come.  You  order  me  to  set 
up  a  bank  here  every  night.  I  have  done  so.  What  has 
happened  ?  Sir  Harry  and  the  colonel  lose  and  win  with 
each  other  and  with  me.  You  look  in  and  throw  away 
fifty  guineas  with  your  lofty  air  as  if  they  mattered  noth- 
ing. These  country  bumpkins  look  on  and  wonder.  They 
are  lost  in  admiration  at  a  man  who  can  lose  fifty  guineas 
without  so  much  as  a  word  or  a  gesture.  And  then  they 
put  down — a  simple  guinea.  To  please  you,  Ludovick,  I 
have  become  a  guinea  hunter.  And  I  am  standing  at  great 
expense,  and  I  am  losing  the  profits  of  my  London  bank." 

"  The  change  of  air  will  do  you  good,  Anastasia.  You 
were  looking  pale  in  town.  Besides,  there  were  too  many 
rumours  afloat." 

"  If  I  had  your  confidence,  I  should  not  care  for  any- 
thing. I  am  willing  to  be  your  servant,  Ludovick,  your 
tool.  I  endure  the  colonel  and  I  tolerate  Sir  Harry,  with 
his  nauseous  old  compliments.  For  your  sake  I  suffer 
them  to  bring  discredit  on  my  name  and  my  play.  But  I 
do  not  consent  to  be  your  slave." 

"  My  mistress,  not  my  servant,"  he  murmured,  touching 
her  fingers. 

She  laughed  scornfully.  "  Will  you  tell  me,  then,  if 
you  wish  me  to  do  anything  more  for  you  ?  Am  I  to  con- 
tinue picking  up  the  guineas  of  these  hard-fisted  rustics  ? 
Am  I  to  figure  in  their  stupid  minuets,  whenever  they  have 
their  assembly  ?  How  long  am  I  to  stay  here  ?  " 

"  You  ask  too  many  questions,  Anastasia.  Still,  to  show 
you  that  I  place  confidence  in  you,  although  you  mistrust 
me,  I  will  answer  some  of  them.  Of  course  it  is  no  news 


144  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

to  you  that  I  have  at  this  moment  no  rents — nothing  to 
receive  and  nothing  to  sell." 

"  I  have  known  that  for  two  years.  You  best  know 
how  you  continue  to  keep  up  your  establishment." 

"  Partly  by  the  help  of  your  table,  dear  Anastasia.  I  am 
not  ungrateful,  believe  me."  Again  he  touched  her  fingers, 
and  again  she  drew  herself  away. 

"You  have  remarked  upon  the  danger  of  having  the 
colonel  and  old  Sir  Harry  about  you.  Both  are  a  good  deal 
blown  upon.  I  would  not  suffer  them  to  be  with  you 
again  at  Bath  or  Tunbridge  Wells.  In  this  place  they  are 
safe.  Both  of  them  will  encourage  the  play  and  set  an  ex- 
ample of  high  play  and  great  winnings.  One  of  them  will 
also  be  ready  to  challenge  any  who  refuses  to  pay.  The 
colonel  has  his  uses.  As  for  Harry,  he  is  useful  to  me  in 
other  ways.  Like  his  reverence." 

"  The  odious,  vile,  crawling  worm  !  " 

"  Quite  so.  Sir  Harry  and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Purdon 
are  useful  in  assuring  the  world  of  my  own  virtuous  char- 
acter." 

"  Why  do  you  want  to  appear  virtuous  ?  You,  whose 
character  is  notorious." 

"  I  have  my  reasons.  Anastasia,  I  will  place  my  whole 
confidence  in  you.  Perhaps  you  saw  at  the  assembly  the 
other  night  a  certain  bourgeoise — a  citizen's  daughter — a 
girl  dressed  in  the  clothes  of  the  fashion,  her  face  as  red  as 
her  hands " 

"  I  saw  a  very  remarkable  woman,  Ludovick — her  face 
and  her  figure  fine  enough  to  make  her  fortune.  She  was 
covered  with  jewels,  which  they  told  me  were  false." 

"They  told  you  wrongly,  Anastasia.  They  are  real — 
diamonds,  pearls,  rubies,  gold  chains  and  all — real.  The 
girl  is  a  great  heiress.  The  people  here  do  not  know  how 
great,  or  the  whole  country  would  be  on  bended  knees 
before  the  goddess.  But  I  know.  And  on  her  account — 
look  you — on  her  account  am  I  here." 

The  Lady  Anastasia  changed  her  manner  suddenly. 
She  glanced  at  his  face.  It  was  impassive ;  it  showed  no 
sign  of  any  emotion  at  all. 

"  Well  ?  What  is  this  heiress  to  me  ?  Can  I  get  her 
diamonds  ? " 


'JEALOUS?"  SHE  REPEATED.     "WHAT  HAVE  YOU  TO  DO  WITH  THE 
GIRL,  THEN?" 


HIS  LORDSHIPS  INTENTIONS  145 

"  I  want  you  to  become  her  friend,  Anastasia.  I  desire 
this  favour  very  greatly." 

The  Lady  Anastasia  stopped  suddenly.  She  lowered  her 
face ;  her  cheek  flushed  ;  her  lip  trembled.  "  Ludovick," 
she  said,  "  I  am  a  woman  after  all.  You  may  command 
me  in  anything — anything  else.  But  not  in  this.  If  you 
insist  upon  this,  I  will  go  home  at  once." 

He  looked  surprised.  "Why?"  he  began.  "Surely 
my  Anastasia  is  not  jealous — not  jealous,  after  all  the  proofs 
that  I  have  given  her  of  fidelity  ?  " 

"Jealous  ?  "  she  repeated.  "  What  have  you  to  do  with 
the  girl,  then  ?  " 

"  My  dear  mistress,  I  care  nothing  about  the  girl,  or 
about  any  woman  in  the  world,  except  one.  Who  should 
know  this  except  the  one  herself  ?  It  is  the  girl's  fortune 
that  I  want — not  the  girl  herself." 

"  How  will  you  get  it  without  the  girl  ?  " 

"  That  is  the  very  point  I  am  considering.  I  came  here 
in  order  to  get  this  fortune.  My  secretary — the  fellow 
Semple — told  me  of  the  girl.  I  sent  you  here  in  order  to 
help  me  to  secure  this  fortune.  I  sent  his  reverence  here 
— the  colonel — Sir  Harry — all  of  them — here  with  the 
same  object,  which  they  must  not  know.  I  came  here.  I 
have  made  a  friend  of  the  girl's  guardian." 

"  If  this  is  true " 

"Of  course,  it  is  true,"  he  replied  coldly.  "Let  me  go 
on.  You  shall  not  charge  me  again  with  want  of  confi- 
dence. The  guardian  is  a  simple  old  sailor.  He  is  a  fool, 
of  course,  being  a  sailor.  He  thinks  to  marry  his  ward  to 
a  man  of  rank." 

"  Yourself,  perhaps  ?  " 

"  Perhaps.  He  also  believes  in  the  virtue  and  piety 
which  my  friends  here  have  ascribed  to  me." 

"  How  will  you  get  the  fortune  without  the  girl  ?  " 

"  I  tell  you  again — there  is  the  difficulty.  Anastasia,  if 
you  have  ever  promised  to  assist  me,  give  me  your  assist- 
ance now.  I  must  win  the  confidence  of  the  old  man  and 
the  girl.  Everybody  must  speak  well  of  me.  I  will  learn 
how  the  money  is  placed  and  where.  I  will  get  possession 
of  it  somehow." 

"  And  then — when  you  have  it  ? " 


146  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  My  difficulties  will  be  at  an  end.  I  shall  leave  the  town 
and  the  gaming  table  and  everything.  You  will  come  with 
me,  Anastasia."  This  time  he  took  her  hand.  "  We  will 
be  Alexis  and  Amaryllis,  the  shepherd  Strephon  and  the 
maiden  Daphne.  My  Anastasia,  believe  me,  I  am  tired  of 
the  world  and  its  noisy  pleasures.  I  sigh  for  rest  and 
repose." 

"  And  the  girl  ?  " 

"  She  will  do  better  without  this  huge  fortune.  Ye 
gods  !  to  give  such  a  girl — this  sailor  wench — this  red  and 
pink  bourgeoise — the  fortune  that  should  have  been  yours, 
Anastasia  !  'Tis  monstrous  !  It  cuts  her  off  from  her  own 
people.  She  would  do  better  to  marry  the  young  sailor 
fellow  who  stumbled  and  rolled  through  the  minuet  with 
her,  thinking  he  was  on  his  deck  rolling  in  the  bay  of 
Biscay.  I  will  set  this  matter  right.  I  will  relieve  her  of 
her  fortune  and  throw  her  into  those  arms  which  reek  of 
pitch  and  tar  and  rope.  Happy  girl  !  " 

The  Lady  Anastasia  sighed.  "  There  will  never  be  any 
rest — or  any  repose — or  any  happiness  for  you  or  for  me. 
Have  it  your  own  way.  I  will  make  the  girl  my  friend. 
I  will  tell  her  that  you  are  the  best  of  men  and  the  most 
virtuous.  Yes,"  she  laughed  a  little,  but  not  mirthfully, 
"  the  most  virtuous.  And  now,  I  think,  you  may  walk  with 
me  through  their  narrow  lanes  with  a  bridge  and  a  stream  for 
every  one,  to  the  small  and  dirty  cabin  where  my  maid 
makes  shift  to  dress  me  every  day,  so  that  I  may  turn  out 
decent  at  least." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

"  IN  THE  LISBON  TRADE  " 

I  WAS  greatly  surprised,  being  on  duty  aboard  in  the 
forenoon,  to  see  Lord  Fylingdale  on  our  quay,  which  ad- 
joins the  Common  Stath,  in  company  with  Captain  Crowle. 

In  truth,  the  nobleman  looked  out  of  his  element — a  fish 
on  dry  land — in  a  place  of  trade.  His  dress  was  by  no 
means  suitable  to  the  collection  of  bales  and  casks  and 
crates  with  which  the  quay  was  piled,  nor  did  his  look 
resemble  that  of  the  merchant,  who  may  be  full  of  dignity, 
as  he  is  full  of  responsibility,  but  is  never  cold  and  haughty. 
His  secret  purpose,  as  I  afterwards  understood,  was  to 
ascertain  the  true  nature  of  Molly's  fortune,  which  he 
could  not  believe  to  be  so  great  as  had  been  represented  to 
him.  His  professed  purpose  was  to  see  what  Captain 
Crowle  was  anxious  to  show  him.  The  good  old  man,  in 
fact,  played  the  very  game  which  this  virtuous  gentleman 
desired ;  he  threw  the  girl — money,  and  lands,  and  ships, 
and  all — at  the  feet  of  the  very  man  who  wanted  the  for- 
tune, and  for  the  sake  of  it  would  not  scruple  to  bring 
misery  upon  the  girl. 

"  I  have  heard,"  his  lordship  was  saying,  as  he  looked 
around  and  marked  the  crowd  of  porters,  lightermen,  and 
clerks  running  about,  "  of  ships  and  shipping.  There  is  a 
place  near  London,  I  believe,  where  they  have  ships.  But 
I  have  never  seen  that  part  of  town.  My  own  friends  own 
farms,  not  ships." 

"  Ships  may  be  better  than  farms,"  the  old  sailor  replied, 
stoutly.  "  You  have  frosts  in  May ;  hail  in  August ; 
drought  in  spring — where  are  your  farms  then  ?  " 

Lord  Fylingdale  laughed  pleasantly. 

"  Nay,  captain,  but  there  is  another  side  to  your  picture 
also.  Storms  arise ;  the  waves  become  billows ;  there  are 
hidden  rocks — where  are  your  ships  then  ?  " 

147 


148  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"The  underwriters  pay  for  all.  There  may  be  better 
money,  I  say,  in  ships  than  in  land." 

"  Then  the  merchants  should  be  richer  than  the  land- 
owners." 

"  Not  always,  by  your  leave,  my  lord.  For  there  are  too 
many  merchants ;  and  of  landowners,  such  as  your  lordship, 
there  are  never  more  than  a  few.  But  some  merchants  are 
richer  than  some  landowners.  Of  these  my  ward  is  one." 

"  I  should  like  to  know,  captain,  what  you  mean  by  rich. 
Your  ward  owns  ships,  and  brings  home  their  cargoes — 
turpentine  and  tar — a  fragrant  trade." 

"The  farmer's  muck  heap  smells  no  sweeter,  and  pig- 
styes,  my  lord,  are  no  ladies'  bowers." 

"  Show  me  one  of  your  ships,  captain.  If  you  have  one 
in  port,  take  me  on  board.  Make  me  understand  what  this 
trade  means.  I  doubt  not  that  before  long  we  shall  all  turn 
our  ploughs  into  rudders,  our  maypoles  into  masts,  and  our 
oaks  into  ships,  and  so  go  a  trading  up  and  down  the  seas, 
and  get  rich  like  the  merchants  of  Lynn  Regis." 

I  do  not  know  how  far  he  spoke  truthfully ;  I  am,  on  the 
whole,  inclined  to  believe  that  he  was  actually  ignorant  of 
trade  and  shipping  of  any  kind.  He  and  his  class  build  up 
a  wall  between  themselves  and  those  who  carry  on  the  trade 
which  pours  wealth  into  the  country  and  push  out  their 
fleets  into  far  distant  seas;  and  he  and  his  class  imagine  that 
they  are  a  superior  race  to  whom  Providence  hath  delivered 
the  work  of  administering  the  kingdom,  with  all  the  offices, 
prizes,  places,  and  honours  belonging  to  that  work.  They 
will  not  admit  the  merchants  to  any  share ;  they  fill  the 
House  of  Commons — which  should  be  an  assembly  con- 
taining the  merchants,  and  who  make  the  country  rich — 
with  placemen  (their  servants),  and  their  own  cousins,  sons, 
and  brothers.  They  command  our  armies  and  our  navies ; 
they  are  our  judges  and  our  magistrates ;  for  them  the  poet 
writes,  the  player  acts,  the  artist  paints.  They  do  not  con- 
descend to  penetrate  into  the  ports  where  the  ships  lie 
moored  and  the  quays  contain  the  treasures  brought  home 
and  the  treasures  sent  out.  They  grow  continually  poorer 
instead  of  richer ;  their  gambling,  their  troops  of  servants, 
their  drinking,  their  pleasant  vices  impoverish  them ;  they 
sell  their  woods  and  pawn  their  revenues.  All  this  time  the 


"IN  THE  LISBON  TRADE"  149 

merchants  arc  growing  richer;  they  live  in  places  where  they 
never  see  anything  of  the  fashionable  world — in  villages  out- 
side London ;  in  towns  like  Bristol,  Lynn,  Southampton, 
Newcastle,  where  there  are  no  noble  lords ;  they  do  not 
concern  themselves  about  the  government  if  only  the  seas 
are  kept  open. 

Again,  if  these  noblemen  meet  the  merchants  on  any 
occasion  their  carriage  is  cold  and  proud.  Perhaps  they 
show  an  open  scorn  of  trade ;  in  any  case,  they  treat  them 
with  scanty  consideration,  as  people  who  have  no  rank. 
Even  when  they  desire  to  conciliate  these  inferiors  their 
manner  is  haughty,  and  they  speak  from  a  height. 

One  man  is  not  better  than  another  because  he  makes  his 
living  out  of  fields  while  this  other  makes  his  out  of  ships. 
And  I  do  not  find  that  one  man  makes  a  better  sailor  than 
another  because  he  is  the  son  of  a  gentleman  while  the  other 
is  the  son  of  a  boat  builder  or  a  rope  maker. 

However,  I  am  talking  likely  enough  as  a  fool.  It  is  not 
for  me  to  question  the  order  of  the  world.  If  the  mer- 
chants go  on  getting  rich  they  may,  some  time  or  other,  look 
down  upon  the  House  of  Lords  as  much  as  the  House  of 
Lords,  with  their  ladies,  their  sons,  their  daughters,  their 
nephews,  and  their  cousins,  now  look  down  upon  merchants 
and  all  who  earn  their  livelihood  by  honest  work,  and  by 
enterprises  which  demand  courage  and  resolution,  knowledge, 
patience,  and  skill. 

Presently  I  saw  them  both  get  into  a  dingey,  which  the 
captain  rowed  out  into  the  river,  making  for  The  Lady  of 
Lynn.  He  made  fast  the  painter  to  the  companion  and 
climbed  up  the  rope  ladder,  followed  by  his  lordship,  who, 
with  some  difficulty,  landed  on  the  deck,  looking  at  his 
tarred  hands  with  curiosity  rather  than  disgust.  I  must  say 
that  he  made  no  complaint,  even  though  his  dress,  which 
was  not  adapted  for  rope  ladders,  showed  also  signs  of  the 
tar. 

"  My  lord,"  said  the  captain,  "  this  is  one  of  my  ward's 
ships,  and  there  is  the  mate  of  the  ship,  Mr.  Pentecrosse,  at 
your  service." 

"  At  your  service,  sir,"  said  my  lord,  from  his  superior 
height,  and  with  that  cold  condescension  which  I  should  try  in 
vain  to  imitate  and  cannot  attempt  to  set  down  in  words.  It 


1 50  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

is  not  the  voice  of  authority — every  skipper  knows  what  that 
is  and  every  sailor.  It  is  a  manner  which  is  never  found 
except  among  people  of  rank.  However,  I  pulled  off  my 
hat  and  bowed  low.  His  lordship  took  no  further  notice 
of  me  for  awhile,  but  looked  about  him  curiously. 

"  A  strange  place,"  he  said.  "  I  have  never  before  been 
on  a  ship.  Tell  me  more  about  this  ship,  captain." 

"  She  is  called  The  Lady  of  Lynn.  She  is  three  hundred 
and  eighty  tons  burden,  and  she  is  in  the  Lisbon  trade." 

"  In  the  Lisbon  trade  ?  Captain,  neither  the  amount  of 
her  tons  nor  the  nature  of  her  occupation  enlightens  me  in 
the  least." 

"She  sails  from  here  to  Lisbon  and  back  again.  She 
takes  out  for  the  Portuguese  things  that  they  want — iron, 
lead,  instruments  of  all  kinds,  wool,  and  a  great  many  other 
things — and  she  brings  back  what  we  want — the  wine  of 
the  country.  She  comes  laden  with  port  wine,  Sack, 
Malmsey,  Canary,  Teneriffe,  Lisbon,  Bacellas,  Mountain 
— in  a  word,  all  the  wines  of  Spain  and  Portugal.  My  ward 
is  an  export  and  import  merchant  as  well  as  a  shipowner; 
she  fills  her  ships  with  wine.  The  country  round  Lynn  is 
a  thirsty  country ;  the  gentlemen  of  Norfolk,  Lincoln,  and 
the  Fen  countries,  not  to  speak  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, all  drink  the  wines  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  a  great 
deal  of  it.  We  send  our  wine  in  barges  up  the  river  and  in 
waggons  across  the  country ;  we  send  our  wine  to  New- 
castle and  Hull  by  ships.  The  trade  of  Lynn  Regis  in 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  wine  is  very  considerable,  and  most 
of  it  is  in  the  hands  of  my  ward." 

"This  is  the  Lisbon  trade.  I  begin  to  understand.  And 
what  may  such  a  ship  as  this  be  worth  ?  " 

"To  build  her,  to  rig  her,  to  fit  her  for  sea,  to  provision 
her,  would  cost  a  matter  of  .£1,500  or  £2,000." 

"  And  I  suppose  she  earns  something  by  her  voyages  ? " 

The  captain  smiled. 

"  She  makes  two  voyages  every  year ;  sometimes  five  in 
two  years.  She  must  first  pay  her  captain  and  the  ship's 
company;  then  she  must  pay  for  repairs — a  woman  and  a 
ship,  they  say,  are  always  wanting  repairs — then  she  must 
pay  for  provisions  for  the  crew;  there  are  customs  dues 
and  harbour  dues  at  both  ends.  When  all  is  paid  the  ship 


"IN  THE  LISBON  TRADE"  151 

will  bring  to  her  owners  a  profit  of  £500  or  £600.  It  is  a 
bad  year  when  she  does  not  bring  in  .£600." 

His  lordship's  eyebrows  lifted.  "  How  many  ships  did 
you  say  are  owned  by  this  fortunate  young  lady  ?  " 

"  She  has  eight.  They  are  not  all  in  the  Lisbon  trade. 
Some  sail  to  Norway ;  some  to  the  Baltic — that  is,  to 
Revel  and  Dantzig — and  bring  home  what  you  saw  on  the 
quay,  the  turpentine,  deal,  skins,  fur,  and  so  forth." 

"  Eight  ships  and  a  bad  year  when  every  single  ship  does 
not  bring  in  a  profit  of  £600.  Then,  Captain  Crowle, 
we  may  take  it  that  your  ward  has  an  income  of  £4,800  a 
year." 

The  captain  smiled  again.  "  If  it  were  only  that  I 
should  not  be  so  anxious  about  her  future.  But  consider, 
my  lord.  For  eighteen  years  she  has  lived  with  me — she 
and  her  mother — we  live  in  a  plain  and  homely  way,  ac- 
cording to  our  station.  We  are  respectable,  but  not  gentle- 
folk. We  live  on  about  £150  a  year.  The  rest  is  money 
saved.  Some  of  it  is  laid  out  in  land.  My  ward  has  a 
good  bit  of  land,  here  and  there,  chiefly  in  marshland, 
which  is  fat  and  fertile ;  some  of  it  is  laid  out  in  houses — 
a  good  part  of  Lynn  belongs  to  her — some  of  it  is  lent  on 
mortgage.  Since  your  lordship  hath  kindly  promised  to 
give  me  your  advice  on  the  matter,  it  is  proper  to  tell  you 
the  truth.  The  girl,  therefore,  will  have  an  income  of  over 
£12,000  a  year." 

A  strange  and  sudden  flush  rose  to  his  lordship's  cheek ; 
for  a  few  moments  he  did  not  reply.  Then  in  a  harsh  and 
constrained  voice  he  said :  "  It  is  a  very  large  income, 
captain.  Many  members  of  the  Upper  House  have  much 
less.  You  must  be  very  careful.  At  six  per  cent,  it  is 
actually  £200,000  or  thereabouts.  You  must  be  very 
careful." 

"  I  have  been,  and  shall  be,  very  careful.  With  such  a 
fortune,  my  lord,  may  not  my  girl  look  high  ?  " 

"She  may  look  very  high.  There  are  some  families 
which  would  not  admit,  even  for  so  great  a  fortune,  a 
mesalliance^  but  they  are  few.  There  are  the  jewels,  too, 
of  which  she  wore  so  many  last  night.  What  may  they  be 
worth  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know.     They  have  been  lying  in  a  chest  for 


1 52  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

fifty  years  and  more.  They  were  brought  from  India  by 
Molly's  grandfather,  who  sailed  there,  and  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  an  Indian  prince,  to  whom  he  rendered  some 
service.  They  were  too  grand  for  him  and  his  wife ;  and 
they  were  too  grand  for  Molly's  mother,  who  is  but  a 
homely  body.  Therefore  they  have  been  locked  up  all  this 
time.  Nobody  has  ever  worn  them  until  Molly  put  them 
on  last  night." 

"  I  am  a  poor  judge  of  such  things,  but,  captain,  I  be- 
lieve that  what  the  lady  wore  last  night  must  be  worth  a 
very  large  sum — a  very  large  sum  indeed." 

"  It  may  be  so.  It  may  be  so,"  said  the  captain. 
"There  are  as  many  in  the  box  as  we  took  out  of  it. 
Well,  my  lord,  will  her  diamonds  add  to  her  attrac- 
tions ? " 

"  Captain  Crowle,  no  one  knows  or  can  understand  the 
extraordinary  beauty  of  a  woman  who  is  worth  ,£200,000 
and  has,  besides,  diamonds  and  pearls  fit  for  a  duchess. 
You  must,  indeed,  be  very  careful." 

I  who  stood  beside  him  humbly,  hat  in  hand,  wondered 
within  myself  as  to  what  his  lordship  would  say  if  the 
captain  should  suddenly  or  inadvertently  reveal  his  secret 
ambitions.  Indeed,  he  looked  so  commanding  and  so  noble 
that  these  ambitions  appeared  to  me  ridiculous.  I  felt 
happier  in  thinking  that  they  were  ridiculous. 

How,  indeed,  should  our  girl,  who  must  appear  homely 
to  one  who  knew  courts  and  the  charms  and  splendour  of 
great  ladies,  attract  this  cold  and  fastidious  nobleman  ? 

He  turned  suddenly  upon  me.  "  This,"  he  said,  "  is  one 
of  your  crew  ?  " 

I  was  dressed  in  my  workaday  frieze  and  shag,  and 
looked,  I  dare  say,  to  unpractised  eyes,  more  like  a  fo'k'sle 
hand  than  the  chief  officer. 

"  It  is  our  mate.  I  told  your  lordship  before.  He  is 
second  in  command." 

"  Oh  !  sir,"  he  said,  bowing,  a  gesture  which  politeness 
demanded  and  difference  of  rank  allowed  to  be  a  slight  in- 
clination only,  "  I  beg  your  pardon.  The  strangeness  of 
this  place  made  me  forget.  Stay,  is  not  this  the — the  gen- 
tleman who  attempted  a  minuet  last  night  with  the  fair 
Miss  Molly  ? " 


"IN  THE  LISBON  TRADE"  153 

The  question  threw  me  into  confusion.  The  captain 
answered  for  me. 

"  Gad  !     He  did  it  rarely." 

"  Rarely,  indeed.  Well,  sir,  you  are  lucky.  You  dance 
with  the  lady  ;  you  are  in  the  service  of  the  lady  ;  by  faith- 
ful service  you  help  to  make  her  rich.  What  greater  marks 
of  favour  can  Providence  bestow  upon  you  ?  " 

I  made  no  answer,  because,  indeed,  I  knew  not  what  to 
reply. 

"And  now,  sir,  if  you  will  show  me  your  ship,  I  shall 
be  obliged  to  you.  Teach  me  the  economy  of  a  merchant 
man." 

I  obeyed.  We  left  the  captain  on  deck,  and  I  took 
him  over  the  whole  of  the  ship.  He  wanted  to  see  every- 
thing ;  he  inspected  the  two  carronades  on  the  quarter- 
deck and  the  stand  of  small  arms.  I  showed  him  the 
binnacle  and  explained  how  we  steered  and  kept  her  in  her 
course.  I  took  him  below  and  showed  him  the  lower  deck, 
and  let  him  peer  into  the  hole.  He  saw  the  galley  and  the 
fo'k'sle,  and  everything. 

I  observed  that  he  was  extremely  curious  about  all  he 
saw.  He  wanted  to  know  the  value  of  things ;  the  wages ; 
the  cost  of  provisioning  the  ship;  the  purchase  and  the 
sale  of  the  cargo.  It  was  wonderful  to  find  a  man  of  his 
rank  so  curious  as  to  every  point. 

"  I  suppose,"  he  said,  "  that  the  old  man  states  the  mere 
facts  as  to  these  ships — and  the  lands — and — and  the  rest 
of  it." 

"No  man  knows  better  than  the  captain,"  I  replied. 
"  He  has  worked  for  nearly  twenty  years  for  his  ward." 

"  And  for  himself,  as  well,  I  doubt  not." 

"  No,  my  lord,  not  for  himself.  All  for  his  ward.  He 
has  taken  nothing  for  himself,  though  he  might  have  done 
so.  It  has  been  all  for  his  ward." 

"  A  virtuous  guardian,  truly.  Young  man,  he  should  be 
an  example  to  you.  Would  that  there  were  many  guardians 
so  prudent  and  so  careful !" 

Then  I  invited  him  into  the  cabin,  and  showed  him  how 
the  log  is  kept,  and  the  ship's  course  set  down  day  by  day. 
There  was  nothing  which  he  did  not  wish  to  understand. 

"I  never  knew  before,"  he  said,  "that  ships  could  mean 


i54  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

money.  Pray,  Captain  Crowle,  could  a  ship,  such  as  this, 
be  sold  and  converted  into  ready  money  like  a  forest  of  oak 
or  a  plantation  of  cedars,  or  an  estate  of  land  ?  " 

"Assuredly,  my  lord.  If  I  put  up  The  Lady  of  Lynn  for 
sale  to-morrow  there  would  be  a  score  of  bids  for  her  here 
in  this  town.  If  I  sold  her  in  London  she  would  command 
a  higher  price." 

"  Your  ward  could,  therefore,  sell  her  whole  fleet  if  she 
chose." 

"  Her  fleet  and  her  business  as  a  merchant,  and  her  lands 
and  her  houses  and  her  jewels — she  could  sell  them  all." 

It  seems  trifling  to  set  down  this  conversation,  but  you 
will  understand  in  due  course  the  meaning  of  these  ques- 
tions, and  what  was  in  the  mind — the  corrupt  and  evil 
mind — of  this  deceiver. 

"  But,"  he  went  on,  "  the  ship  may  be  cast  away." 

"  Ay  !  She  may  be  cast  away.  Then  this  lad  and  the 
whole  of  the  ship's  crew  would  be  drowned.  That  hap- 
pens to  many  tall  ships.  We  sailors  take  our  chance." 

"  The  crew  might  be  drowned.  I  was  thinking,  how- 
ever, of  the  cargo  and  the  ship." 

"  Oh !  as  to  them,  the  underwriters  would  pay.  Under- 
writers, my  lord,  are  a  class  of  people  who,  between  them, 
take  the  risk  of  ships  for  a  percentage." 

"Then  under  no  circumstances,  not  even  that  of  ship- 
wreck, or  of  fire,  or  of  pirates,  can  the  owner  lose." 

"  The  underwriters  would  pay.  But  look  you,  my  lord, 
there  are  risks  in  every  kind  of  business.  There  is  the 
cargo.  The  owner  of  this  ship  is  also  a  merchant.  She 
loads  a  cargo  of  wine  on  her  own  ship ;  unloads  it  on  her 
own  quay,  and  sends  it  about  the  country  to  the  inn- 
keepers and  the  merchants  of  the  towns.  They  may  not 
want  her  wine — but  they  always  do.  They  may  not  be 
willing  to  pay  so  much  as  usual,  but  they  generally  do. 
These  are  our  risks.  But  it  is  a  safe  business  on  the 
whole— eh,  Jack  ? " 

"We  have  never  lost  much  yet,  to  my  knowledge, 
captain." 

Lord  Fylingdale  sat  down  carelessly  on  the  cabin  table 
dangling  his  leg. 

"  I  have  had  a  most  instructive  visit,  captain.     I  do  not 


"IN  THE  LISBON  TRADE"  155 

mind  the  tar  on  my  hands  or  that  on  my  small  clothes, 
which  are  ruined.  I  have  learned  a  great  deal.  Captain," 
he  added  solemnly,  "  Miss  Molly  has,  beside  the  charms 
of  her  person  and  her  conversation — out  of  so  fine  a  mouth 
pearls  only — pearls  as  fine  as  those  around  her  neck  would 
drop — twelve  thousand  charms  a  year.  I  do  not  know  her 
equal  in  London  at  this  moment.  The  daughter  of  a  re- 
tired tallow  chandler  was  spoken  of,  some  time  ago — said 
to  have  fifty  thousand  pounds — with  a  squint.  No,  sir, 
Miss  Molly  in  London  would  take  the  town  by  storm." 

He  paused  and  fell  into  a  short  meditation. 

"Jack,"  said  the  captain,  "there  is,  I  am  sure,  a  bottle 
in  the  locker.  His  lordship  must  not  leave  the  ship  with- 
out tasting  some  of  the  cargo." 

I  produced  a  bottle  and  glasses. 

"  Your  very  best,  Jack  ?  " 

"  The  king  himself  has  no  better,"  I  replied  stoutly, 
"  because  no  better  wine  is  made/' 

"  I  give  you  a  toast,  captain,"  said  his  lordship.  "  The 
fair  Miss  Molly  !  " 

We  drank  it  with  enthusiasm. 

"  I  have  this  morning  learned  a  great  deal.  For  one 
who,  like  myself,  proposes  to  serve  his  country,  all  kinds 
of  knowledge  are  useful — even  the  smallest  details  may  be 
important.  I  have  a  good  memory,  and  I  shall  not  readily 
forget  the  things  which  you  have  taught  me.  We  of  the 
Upper  House,  perhaps,  keep  too  much  aloof  from  the  trad- 
ing interests  of  the  country." 

"  Your  lordship,"  said  the  captain,  "  should  present  an 
example  of  the  better  way." 

"  I  shall  endeavour  to  do  so."  He  put  on  his  hat  and 
stood  up.  "  Before  leaving  the  ship,  Mr.  Pentecrosse — 
you  seem  to  have  an  honest  face — I  would  exhort  you  to 
persevere  in  faithful  service  and  to  deserve  the  confidence 
of  your  employer.  I  wish  you,  sir,  a  successful  voyage 
and  many  of  them."  He  took  a  step  towards  the  cabin 
door,  but  stopped  and  turned  again  to  me.  "  Mr.  Pente- 
crosse, let  me  add  another  word  of  advice.  Do  not  again 
attempt  to  enact  the  part  of  a  fine  gentleman.  Believe  me, 
sir,  the  part  requires  practice  and  study,  unless  one  is  born 
and  brought  up  a  gentleman.  Stick  to  your  quarter-deck, 


156  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

friend,  and   to  your  ship's  log,  and  leave,  for  the  future, 
minuets,  heiresses,  and  polite  assemblies  to  your  betters." 

So  saying  he  walked  out  of  the  cabin  and  climbed  down 
the  ladder,  followed  by  the  captain.  As  for  me,  I  stood 
gaping  at  the  open  door,  looking,  as  they  say,  like  a  stuck 
pig,  being  both  ashamed  and  angry. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE     WITCH 

ALL  that  day  I  remained  in  a  state  of  gloom.  I  was 
ashamed  to  think  that  I  had  brought  ridicule  upon  Molly 
by  my  clumsy  dancing,  and  I  was  gloomy  because  I  under- 
stood that  Molly  must  certainly  marry  some  great  man,  and 
that  there  would  be  an  end  of  her  so  far  as  I  was  con- 
cerned. I  was  her  servant;  I  was  her  faithful  servant; 
what  could  I  want  more  ?  I  was  never  again  to  attempt 
the  part  of  a  fine  gentleman — and  she  would  live  wholly 
among  fine  gentlemen.  I  know  now  that  it  was  more  than 
the  common  gloom  of  humiliation.  That  I  should  have 
thrown  off  with  ease.  It  was  the  terror  of  something  evil 
— the  consciousness  which  seizes  the  soul  without  any 
cause  that  can  be  ascertained,  and  fills  it  with  trembling 
and  with  terror.  Certain  words — harmless  words — kept 
recurring  to  my  mind;  words  uttered  by  Lord  Fylingdale 
— "  Can  a  ship  be  sold  like  a  farm  ?  "  or  words  to  that  ef- 
fect. Why  did  these  simple  words  disturb  me  ?  The 
captain  had  no  thought  of  selling  any  of  the  ships.  And 
why,  when  I  thought  of  these  words,  did  I  also  remember 
the  curious  change  that  came  over  his  face  when  he  under- 
stood the  great  wealth  of  this  young  heiress  ?  I  seemed  to 
see  again  the  strange  flush  of  his  pale,  cold  cheek ;  I 
seemed  to  see  a  strange  smile  upon  his  unbending  lips  and 
a  strange  light  in  his  eyes.  There  was  never,  surely,  any 
gentleman  with  a  face  so  cold  and  calm  as  that  of  my  Lord 
Fylingdale.  It  was  as  if  a  perpetual  peace  reigned  in  his 
mind ;  as  if  he  was  disturbed  by  none  of  the  passions  and 
emotions  of  ordinary  men.  Therefore  the  smile  and  the 
strange  look  must  have  been  in  my  imagination  only. 

Was  it  possible  that  the  captain's  secret  prayers  were  to 
be  granted  ?  They  were  ambitious  prayers.  I  have  heard 
it  said  that  the  Lord  sometimes  grants  to  men  the  thing 

'57 


i58  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

they  most  desire  in  order  that  they  may  learn  how  much 
better  it  would  have  been  for  them  had  their  prayers  been 
refused.  You  shall  learn  how  this  lesson  was  driven  into 
my  mind — line  upon  line — precept  upon  precept.  For  my 
own  part,  while  I  honestly  desired  for  Molly  the  best  of 
husbands,  the  thought  of  her  marrying  this  cold,  stately, 
proud  young  nobleman  filled  me  with  pity. 

And  I  must  tell  you,  moreover,  of  a  strange  thing.  It 
happened  some  three  or  four  years  before  these  events,  but 
I  have  never  forgotten  it. 

It  is  connected  with  Molly's  black  woman  whom  we 
called  Nigra.  Like  all  black  women  she  was  esteemed  a 
witch.  In  earlier  times  she  would  have  been  burned  at  the 
stake  for  her  magic  and  sorcery.  Yet  she  was  only  a  white 
witch,  as  they  call  them  ;  it  was  very  well  known  that  she 
worked  no  mischief  and  cast  no  spells.  Nobody  was  afraid 
of  her.  If  a  child  fell  into  fits  the  mother,  so  far  from 
thinking  Nigra  to  be  the  cause,  brought  her  to  the  black 
woman  to  be  cured.  Nobody  could  look  at  her  kindly, 
wrinkled  old  face,  which  was  always  smiling  through  her 
white  teeth ;  nobody  could  see  those  smiles  upon  her  face, 
which  shone  in  the  sun  as  if  it  was  of  burnished  metal ; 
nobody  could  talk  with  her,  I  say,  and  believe  that  she  was 
of  the  malignant  stuff  that  makes  the  witch  of  the  village. 
She  had  a  great  reputation  for  telling  fortunes ;  she  could 
show  girls  their  future  husbands ;  she  could  find  out  lucky 
days  for  them,  and  tell  them  how  to  avoid  unlucky  days  ; 
she  could  make  charms  to  be  hung  round  the  necks  of  in- 
fants which  would  keep  them  from  croup,  fits,  and  convul- 
sions, and  carry  them  safely  through  measels  and  whooping 
cough.  She  had  sovereign  remedies  against  toothache,  chil- 
blains, earache,  growing  pains,  agues,  fevers,  and  all  the 
diseases  of  boys  and  girls,  and  with  the  ailments  which  fall 
upon  the  maids,  such  as  megrims,  headache,  swoonings, 
giddiness,  vapours,  and  melancholy.  It  was  believed  that 
even  Dr.  Worship  himself  could  not  compare  with  this 
black  woman  from  the  Guinea  coast. 

One  evening,  long  before  the  events  that  I  am  relating, 
I  surprised  her  while  she  was  engaged  in  her  harmless  spells 
and  magic  rites.  It  was  in  the  kitchen,  where  she  sat 
alone  at  a  table  before  the  fire.  There  was  no  candle,  and 


THE  WITCH  159 

the  red  light  of  the  blazing  coal  made  her  face  shine  like 
copper  and  her  eyes  like  two  flames,  and  transformed  her 
red  cloth  turban  into  rich  crimson  velvet.  She  had  on  the 
table  before  her  a  string  of  shells,  a  monkey's  skull — but  it 
looked  like  the  skull  of  a  baby — a  thick  round  stick,  painted 
with  lines  of  red  and  blue,  two  or  three  rags  of  cloth,  a 
cocoanut  shell  cut  in  two  to  make  a  cup,  and  many  other 
tools  or  instruments  which  I  forget ;  and,  indeed,  it  matters 
nothing,  because  no  one  would  be  any  the  wiser  if  I  set 
down  the  whole  furniture  of  this  old  sorceress. 

She  was  bending  over  the  table,  arranging  in  some  kind 
of  order  these  mysterious  means  for  learning  the  future,  and 
murmuring  the  while  gibberish  of  the  kind  which  serves 
these  poor  blacks  for  their  language.  She  was  so  busy  that 
she  did  not  hear  my  footsteps,  till  I  stole  behind  her  and 
clapped  both  my  hands  over  her  eyes. 

Then  she  jumped  up  with  a  shriek,  letting  her  magical 
tools  drop,  and  turned  round.  "  Shoo  !  "  she  cried,  bursting 
into  a  laugh.  "  Shoo  !  It's  Massa  Jack.  I  thought  it  was 
de  debble  come  to  look  on."  This  was  the  way  she  talked. 
I  believe  that  if  you  take  a  negro  as  a  baby  and  bring  him 
up  with  Christians,  so  that  he  hears  no  word  of  his  own 
gibberish,  in  the  end  he  will  always  speak  in  this  way.  It 
is  part  of  his  nature ;  it  is  one  of  the  things  which  belong 
to  his  race — wool  instead  of  hair;  black  skin  instead  of 
white ;  thick  speech  instead  of  clear ;  the  shin  rounded  in- 
stead of  the  calf;  a  projecting  heel,  and  a  big  jaw  with 
white,  strong  teeth. 

"  Does  the  devil  often  come  here,  Nigra  ?  " 

"  Massa  Jack,"  she  replied,  with  as  much  solemnity  as 
she  could  command,  "  don't  you  nebber  ask  if  the  debble 
comes  here." 

"  What  is  he  like,  Nigra  ?  " 

She  sat  down  and  began  to  laugh.  She  laughed  till  her 
mouth  nearly  reached  her  ears  ;  she  laughed  till  her  turban 
nodded  and  shook,  and  her  shoulders  shook,  and  she  shook 
all  over.  She  laughed,  I  know  not  why.  "  What  he  like  ? 
Ho  !  Ho  !  Ho  !  Massa  Jack — what  he  like  ?  " 

"  Well,  but,  Nigra,  tell  me  how  you  know  him  when 
you  see  him." 

"Massa  Jack,"  she  became  serious  as  suddenly  as  she 


160  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

had  fallen  into  her  fit  of  laughter.  "  Look  ye  here.  When 
you  see  de  debble — then  you  know  de  debble."  So  saying, 
she  turned  to  the  table  again  and  began  to  gather  up  her 
unholy  possessions. 

"  Well,  but  Nigra,  I  am  not  the  devil,  and  so  you  may 
as  well  tell  me  whose  fortune  you  are  telling." 

"  Missy's  fortune." 

"  What  is  it  ?  " 

She  shook  her  head.  "  Can't  tell  you,  Massa  Jack. 
Mustn't  tell  you." 

"  Why  not  ?  Come,  Nigra,  you  know  that  I  desire 
the  very  best  fortune  for  her  that  can  be  given  to  any 
one." 

She  hesitated.  Then  she  laid  her  hand  on  mine. 
"  Massa  Jack,"  she  said,  "  I  tell  her  fortune  your  people's 
way,  by  the  cards,  and  my  people's  way,  by  the  gri-gri  and 
the  skull.  It's  always  the  same  fortune." 

"  What  is  it  ?  " 

"Always  the  same.  They  say — trouble  for  Missy — 
great  big  trouble — she  dunno  yet  what  trouble  is.  Bimeby 
she  find  out,  and  then  all  de  trouble  go — like  as  if  de  sun 
come  out  and  de  rain  leave  off.  All  the  same  fortune." 

"  I  don't  understand  it  at  all,  Nigra.  Why  should 
trouble  come  to  Miss  Molly  ?  " 

"  Cards  don'  tell  that.  Sometimes,  Jack,  de  head  " — she 
laid  her  hand  on  the  skull  of  the  monkey,  or  was  it  the 
skull  of  a  child  ? — "  de  head  tells  me  things.  Befo'  you 
come  in  de  head  was  talking  fine.  He  say,  c  Lose  to  gain ; 
lose  to  gain.  Him  no  good.  Bimeby  bery  fine  man  come 
along.'  Dat's  what  de  head  said  to-night." 

"  Nonsense,  Nigra — a  fleshless  skull  cannot  speak." 

"  Dat's  what  de  head  say  to  me  dis  night,"  she  replied, 
doggedly. 

I  looked  at  the  skull,  but  it  remained  silent,  grinning 
with  the  dreadful  mockery  of  the  death's  head. 

"  Bimeby — bery  fine  man  come  along,"  Nigra  repeated. 

I  laughed  incredulous.  Then  she  laid  her  hand  upon 
my  eyes  for  a  moment — only  for  a  moment.  "  Listen, 
then." 

It  was  like  a  voice  far  away.  I  opened  my  eyes  again. 
Before  me  sat,  or  stood  unsupported,  the  skull,  and  nothing 


THE  WITCH  161 

else.  The  room  had  vanished,  Nigra  and  her  tools 
and  everything.  The  eyes  of  the  skull  were  filled  with  a 
bright  light,  and  the  teeth  moved,  and  the  thing  spoke.  It 
said  :  "  Lose  to  gain  !  Lose  to  gain  !  By  and  by  a  better 
man  will  come." 

I  shivered  and  shook.  I  shut  my  eyes  for  the  bright- 
ness of  the  light.  I  opened  them  again  immediately. 
Everything  was  as  before ;  the  old  black  woman  beside  me 
at  the  table ;  the  skull  and  the  rest  of  the  things ;  the  red 
light  of  the  fire. 

"  Nigra,"  I  cried,  "  what  have  you  done  ?  You  are  a 
witch." 

"  What  did  de  skull  say,  Massa  Jack  ?  " 

"  How  did  you  do  it  ?  What  does  it  mean  ? "  To 
this  day  I  know  not  how  she  contrived  this  witchcraft. 

She  would  talk  no  more,  however.  I  suppose  she  read 
the  signs  and  tokens  according  to  the  rules  of  her  witch- 
craft, and  knew  no  more.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
believe  that  these  black  women  can  penetrate  the  clouds  of 
the  future  and  can  foresee,  that  is,  see  clearly,  before  they 
happen,  the  things  that  are  coming.  It  would  be  too 
much  to  expect  of  a  mere  black.  Why  should  Providence, 
who  has  manifestly  created  the  black  man  to  be  the  slave 
of  the  white,  confer  upon  the  black  woman  so  great  a  gift 
as  that  of  prophecy  ?  It  is  not  credible. 

All  that  day,  after  Lord  Fylingdale  climbed  down  by  the 
rope  ladder,  I  kept  hearing  over  again  the  words  of  the 
black  woman,  which  came  back  to  me,  though  I  had  long 
forgotten  them,  "  By  and  by.  By  and  by,  a  better  man 
will  come." 

Some  there  are  who  laugh  at  these  things,  which  they 
call  superstitions.  I  have  heard  my  father  and  the  vicar 
arguing  learnedly  that  the  time  for  witchcraft  has  passed 
away,  with  that  of  miracles,  demoniac  possessions,  and  the 
casting  out  of  devils.  Well,  it  is  not  for  me  to  speak  of 
things  that  belong  to  the  landsman.  There  may  be  no 
such  thing  as  witchcraft ;  there  may  be  no  overlooking ; 
the  moon  and  the  planets  cannot,  perhaps,  strike  children. 
But  as  for  what  the  sailor  believes — why,  he  knows.  All 
the  Greek  and  all  the  Hebrew  in  the  world  will  not  shake 
out  of  his  mind  what  he  knows.  He  learns  new  knowl- 


i6z  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

edge  with  every  voyage,  and  new  experience  with  every 
gale,  and  when  those  words  of  poor  old  Nigra  came  back 
to  me,  and  would  not  leave  me,  keeping  up  a  continual 
sing-song  in  my  head,  I  knew  very  well,  indeed,  that  some 
trouble  was  brewing — and  that  the  trouble  had  to  do  with 
Molly. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

A    TRUE    FRIEND 

WHEN  Molly  came  out  of  church  after  morning  prayers 
she  stood  in  the  porch  to  see  the  company  pass  out.  It 
was  a  fashionable  company,  consisting  entirely  of  ladies 
who  came  from  the  pump  room  to  hear  the  Reverend  Ben- 
jamin Purdon,  locum  tenens  for  the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas, 
read  the  prayers  of  the  morning  service.  This  he  did  with 
an  impressiveness  quite  overwhelming,  having  a  deep  and 
musical  voice,  which  he  would  roll  up  and  down  like  the 
swelling  notes  of  an  organ,  insomuch  that  some  ladies  wept 
every  morning,  while  he  pronounced  the  absolution  with 
so  much  weight  that  every  sinner  present  rose  from  her 
knees  in  the  comfortable  faith  that  her  sins  were  absolved 
and  washed  away,  and  that  she  could  now  begin  a  new 
series  of  sins  upon  a  clean  slate.  Happy  condition,  when 
without  penance,  which  the  papists  enforce  ;  and  without 
repentance,  which  is  demanded  by  the  Protestant  faith,  a 
sinner  can  every  morning  wipe  off  the  sins  of  the  last 
twenty-four  hours  and  so  begin  another  day  with  a  robe  as 
white  as  snow,  no  sins  upon  their  conscience,  and  a  sure 
and  certain  hope.  "  Let  us  accept,"  said  this  reverend 
divine,  "  with  gratitude  and  joy  all  that  Holy  Church  gives 
us ;  above  all,  her  absolution.  We  have  not  the  sins  of 
yesterday  to  weigh  us  down  together  with  the  sins  of  to- 
day. Madam,  your  silk  apron  becomes  you  highly,  pink 
silk  with  silver  matches  the  colour  of  your  cheeks.  It  is 
the  colour  of  Venus  herself,  I  vow.  Ah !  there  are  mo- 
ments when  I  could  wish  I  was  not  an  ecclesiastic ! " 

As  a  rule  the  morning  prayers  at  our  two  churches  are 
but  poorly  attended.  The  merchants  and  the  captains  are 
at  this  hour  in  the  counting-houses  on  the  quay,  or  assem- 
bled at  the  customhouse,  which  is  a  kind  of  exchange 
for  them  ;  the  craftsmen  and  the  sailors  and  the  bargemen 
are  at  their  work;  the  shopkeepers  are  standing  behind 

163 


164  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

their  counters;  the  housewives  and  the  girls  are  in  the 
kitchen,  pantry,  or  stillroom ;  there  is  no  one  left  to  attend 
the  morning  service,  except  a  few  bedesmen  and  poor  old 
women. 

But  in  the  company  assembled  at  the  spa  there  were 
many  ladies  of  pious  disposition,  though  of  fashionable 
conversation,  who,  having  no  duties  to  perform,  after 
drinking  the  waters  and  exchanging  the  latest  gossip  at  the 
pump  room,  were  pleased  to  attend  the  daily  prayers — all 
the  more  because  they  were  read  by  a  clergyman  from 
London  who  could  talk,  when  he  pleased,  like  a  mere  man 
of  the  world,  or,  also  when  he  pleased,  with  the  gravity 
and  the  piety  of  a  bishop.  The  church  was,  further,  a  place 
where  one  could  gather  together,  so  to  speak,  all  the  ladies' 
dresses  and  receive  suggestions  and  hints  by  the  example 
of  others  what  to  choose  and  what  to  avoid. 

Among  those  who  came  out  of  the  church  that  morning 
was  the  Lady  Anastasia,  in  a  long  hood  lined  with  blue 
silk,  looking,  as  she  always  did,  more  distinguished  than 
any  of  the  rest.  She  stopped  in  the  porch,  seeing  Molly, 
and  laughed,  tapping  her  on  the  cheek  with  her  fan.  The 
other  ladies,  recognising  the  girl  who  wore  the  chains  and 
the  strings  of  jewels  with  so  fine  a  dress  at  the  assembly, 
passed  on  their  way,  sticking  out  their  chins,  or  sniffing 
slightly,  or  giggling  and  whispering,  or  even  frowning. 
These  gestures  all  meant  the  same  thing ;  scorn  and  con- 
tempt for  the  girl  who  presumed,  not  being  a  gentlewoman, 
to  have  so  much  money  and  so  much  beauty.  Envy,  no 
doubt,  was  more  in  their  minds  than  scorn.  They  were 
agreed,  without  speaking,  to  treat  the  poor  girl  with  every 
sign  of  resentment.  And  then,  to  their  confusion,  the 
greatest  lady  among  them  stopped  and  laughed  and  patted 
the  impudent  baggage  on  the  cheek ! 

"  Child,"  said  the  Lady  Anastasia,  "  you  were  at  the 
assembly  the  other  night.  I  saw  you  dancing  a  minuet, 
and  I  heard  that  you  were  rudely  treated  at  the  country 
dance.  I  have  heard  Lord  Fylingdale  speak  about  you. 
He  has  made  the  acquaintance  of  your  guardian,  Cap- 
tain Crawle  or  Crowle.  Come,  child.  Let  us  be  better 
acquainted.  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 

"  I  am  going  home,  madam." 


A  TRUE  FRIEND  165 

"  Take  me  with  you,  then.     Let  me  see  your  home." 

Molly  blushed  to  the  ears  and  stammered  that  it  was  too 
great  honour,  so  she  walked  away,  Lady  Anastasia  with 
her,  while  the  ladies  stood  in  little  groups  watching  in 
wonder  and  indignation,  through  the  churchyard  and  so  to 
the  captain's  house  in  Hogman's  Lane,  close  to  the  fields 
and  gardens. 

Molly  led  her  noble  guest  into  the  parlour.  The  Lady 
Anastasia  looked  round.  "  So,"  she  said, "  this  is  the  home 
of  the  heiress."  There  was  truly  very  little  to  indicate 
this  fact.  The  floor  was  clean  and  sanded ;  a  few  chairs 
stood  round  the  walls ;  one  of  them  was  an  armchair ;  on 
the  walls  hung  certain  portraits — for  my  own  part  I  always 
considered  these  as  very  fine  works  of  art,  but  I  have  since 
heard  that  the  limmer  was  but  a  sorry  member  of  the  craft. 
He  was  an  itinerant  painter,  who  drew  these  portraits  in 
oils  at  half  a  guinea  each.  They  represented  Molly's  par- 
ents and  Captain  Crowle  as  a  young  man.  On  the  mantel- 
shelf stood  a  row  of  china  cups  and  over  them  a  dozen 
samplers.  There  was  a  table  and  there  was  no  other 
furniture." 

"  You  are  an  heiress,  are  you  not,  child  ?  " 

"  The  captain  tells  me  so,  madam." 

"The  captain's  views  as  to  the  nature  of  a  fortune  may 
be  limited.  What  is  your  fortune  ?  " 

"There  are  ships,  and  lands,  and  houses.  I  know  not 
how  many  of  each.  And  I  believe  there  is  money,  but  I 
know  not  how  much." 

"  Strange  !  Is  it  in  such  a  house  that  an  heiress  should 
be  brought  up  ?  Have  you  servants  of  your  own  ? " 

"I  have  my  black  woman,  Nigra." 

"  Humph  !  Have  you  a  coach  ?  or  a  chair  ?  or  a  harp- 
sichord ?  " 

"  I  have  none  of  these  things." 

"  Have  you  friends  among  the  gentlefolk  ?  Who  are 
the  people  that  you  visit  ?  " 

"There  are  no  gentlefolk  in  Lynn.  I  know  the  vicar 
and  the  curate  of  St.  Nicholas  and  their  families,  and  the 
schoolmaster  and  his  son." 

"  And  the  parish  clerk,  I  suppose ;  and  the  man  who 
plays  the  organ.  Have  you  been  educated  ?  " 


i66  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Molly  blushed.  "  The  captain  says  that  I  have  had  the 
best  education  possible  for  a  woman.  I  can  read  and  write 
and  cast  up  accounts;  and  I  can  make  cakes  and  puddings, 
and  brew  the  beer  and  make  the  cordials ;  and  I  can  em- 
broider and  sew." 

"  Heavens  !  What  a  preparation  for  an  heiress  !  But, 
perhaps,  it  is  not  so  great  a  fortune  after  all.  And  do  you 
go  about  daily  dressed  like  this — in  stuff  or  linsey 
woolsey  ?  " 

"  It  is  my  workaday  dress.     I  have  a  better  for  Sunday." 

"  I  dare  say — I  dare  say.  What  do  they  call  you  ? 
Molly  ?  It  is  a  good  name  for  you.  Molly.  There  is 
something  simple  about  it — something  rustical  yet  not  un- 
couth, like  Blousabella.  Your  face  will  pass,  Molly.  It 
is  a  fair  garden  of  red  and  white.  Your  eyes  are  good ; 
they  can  be  soft  and  affectionate.  I  should  think  they 
could  also  be  hard  and  unforgiving.  Your  hair  is  delight- 
ful; even  the  tresses  of  Amaryllis  are  coarse  and  thick 
compared  with  yours.  Your  hand,  my  dear,  is  a  soft  and 
warm  hand,  but  it  is  too  red — you  work  with  it." 

"  Why,  what  else  should  I  work  with  ? " 

"  The  only  work  you  should  do  is  the  shuffling  and  the 
dealing  of  cards — your  hands  were  made  for  this  purpose — 
or  to  handle  a  fan,  or  to  wear  gloves ;  but  not  to  work,  be- 
lieve me." 

Molly  looked  at  her  hand.  It  was  a  workwoman's  hand, 
being,  though  small,  thick  and  strong,  with  fingers  square 
rather  than  long.  She  looked  and  laughed.  "  What  would 
you  say,  madam,  if  you  saw  me  rowing  a  boat  or  handling 
the  sail  while  Jack  Pentecrosse  steers  ?  I  have  done  much 
rougher  work  in  a  boat  than  in  the  stillroom." 

"  These  confessions  amaze  me,  my  dear.  With  ships — 
actually  the  plural  of  the  word  ship ! — and  lands — what 
lands  ? — and  houses,  and  that  sum  of  money,  that  you 
should  live  in  a  house  like  this,  without  servants,  without 
dress — your  clothes  are  not  dress — without  a  coach — and 
that  you  should  be  allowed  .  .  .  Pray,  Molly,  what 
does  your  mother  think  of  it  ?  " 

"  My  mother  teaches  me  to  do  what  she  herself  does." 

"  Yet  you  came  the  other  night  in  a  costly  dress,  and 
you  danced  the  minuet." 


A  TRUE  FRIEND  167 

"  The  director  of  the  ceremonies,  Mr.  Prappet,  taught 
me  the  dance." 

"  You  acquitted  yourself  tolerably,  considering  your 
partner,  who  made  everybody  laugh.  There  was,  however, 
too  much  of  the  dancing  school  in  your  style.  A  minuet, 
child,  should  convey  the  idea  of  gesture  unstudied.  Not 
natural.  Heaven  forbid  that  the  world  of  fashion  should 
ever  be  natural !  No,  but  springing  out  of  the  courtesy  of 
the  situation,  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  polite 
world.  The  cavalier  woos  the  maiden,  not  in  the  country 
fashion  of  swain  and  shepherdess,  whose  wooing  is  a  plain 
and  direct  question  with  a  plain  and  direct  answer,  but  with 
formal  advances  according  to  well  understood  rules,  which 
demand  certain  postures  and  gestures.  Who  dressed 
you  ?  " 

"The  dressmaker  from  Norwich  who  has  a  shop  in 
Mercers'  Row.  She  had  the  dress  from  London." 

"The  dress  was  passable.  For  most  girls  it  would  have 
been  too  costly.  But  it  proclaimed  the  heiress.  It  also 
awakened  the  envy,  hatred,  and  malice  of  the  whole  as- 
sembly— I  mean  of  the  ladies.  Then  there  were  the 
jewels.  Child,  are  you  really  possessed  of  all  those  jewels  ? 
Are  they  truly  your  own  ?  Are  they  truly  real  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  so.  They  have  been  locked  up  for  fifty 
years.  My  grandfather,  who  was  a  ship's  captain,  brought 
them  from  India.  They  were  given  to  him  in  return  for 
some  service  by  a  native  prince.  No  one  has  ever  worn 
them  except  myself.  The  captain  wanted  to  make  the 
whole  world  understand  that  I  have  these  fine  things. 
That  is  why  I  took  some  of  them  out  and  put  them  on." 

"  The  world  received  this  intelligence,  child,  with  envy 
unspeakable.  Since  the  assembly  the  ladies  have  been  en- 
tirely occupied  in  taking  away  your  character.  You  are  a 
strolling  actress ;  your  jewels  are  coloured  glass ;  your  silk 
dress  is  a  stage  costume ;  I  will  not  repeat  the  many  kind 
things  said  concerning  you." 

"  Oh  !     But  what  have  I  done  ?     What  am  I  to  do  ?  " 

"  Be  not  alarmed.  Everybody's  character  is  taken  away 
in  turns,  and  nobody  is  one  whit  the  worse.  With  a  girl 
like  you,  so  innocent  of  the  world,  the  more  your  character 
is  taken  away  the  better  it  becomes." 


i68  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 


"  Yet  I  would  rather  • 


"Tut,  tut.  What  matters  their  talk.  But  about  those 
jewels,  my  dear.  I  am  curious  about  them.  Will  you  let 
me  see  them  all  ?  If  you  only  knew  how  jewels  carry  me 
away  !  " 

Molly  went  away,  and  presently  returned  with  a  large 
casket  of  wood  carved  with  all  kinds  of  devices,  such  as 
figures,  flowers,  fruit,  and  leaves.  Within  there  were  trays 
lined  with  red  velvet,  the  colour  now  somewhat  decayed ; 
on  these  trays  reposed  the  jewels  she  had  worn,  and  many 
more.  There  were  strings  of  pearls ;  coils  of  gold  chains ; 
bracelets  and  necklaces;  rings,  brooches;  all  kinds  imagi- 
nable, set  with  precious  stones,  diamonds,  emeralds,  pearls, 
rubies,  turquoise,  sapphires,  opals — every  jewel  that  is 
known  to  men  and  prized  by  women. 

The  Lady  Anastasia  gazed  upon  them  with  hunger  and 
longing ;  she  took  up  the  chains  and  strings  of  pearls  and 
rubies  and  suffered  them  to  fall  gently  through  her  fingers, 
as  if  the  mere  touch  was  sovereign  against  all  ills ;  she 
sighed  as  she  laid  them  down.  She  sprang  to  her  feet  and 
began  to  hang  them  about  Molly's  neck  and  arms;  she 
twisted  the  pearls  in  and  about  her  hair;  she  strung  the 
gold  chains  about  her  neck ;  she  covered  her  again,  as  she 
had  been  covered  at  the  assembly,  with  the  glittering  gauds. 

"  Oh  !  "  she  cried,  sinking  into  her  chair.  "  'Tis  too 
much  !  Take  them  off  again,  Molly,  I  burst — I  faint — I 
die — with  envy.  Oh  !  that  you,  who  care  so  little  for 
them,  should  have  so  many,  and  I,  who  care  so  much, 
should  have  so  few.  Women  have  risked  their  honour, 
their  name,  their  immortal  souls,  for  a  tenth  part  of  the 
treasures  that  you  have  in  this  casket.  And  yet  you  wonder 
why  they  take  away  your  character  !  " 

Molly  laughed  and  shut  the  box.  "As  I  never  saw 
them  before  yesterday  I  do  not  understand  their  envy." 

"  No — you  do  not  understand.  Ah  !  how  much  happi- 
ness you  lose  in  not  understanding.  For  you  know  not 
the  joy  of  seeing  all  faces  grow  black  and  all  looks  bitter. 
Well,  put  them  away,  out  of  my  sight." 

Then  she  turned  to  another  subject. 

"  Tell  me,  Molly,  what  your  guardian  designs  for  you. 
Are  you  to  marry  some  merchant  who  distributes  casks  of 


A  TRUE  FRIEND  169 

turpentine  about  the  country  ?  Or  a  sailor  who  pretends 
to  be  a  fine  gentleman  and  dances  like  an  elephant.  The 
handling  of  this  noble  fortune  is  surely  above  the  ambition 
of  such  gentry  as  these." 

"  Indeed  I  do  not  know.  The  captain  says  that  he  must 
look  higher  than  a  merchant  or  a  sailor  of  Lynn.  And  he 
will  not  think  of  any  gentleman  of  the  country,  neither, 
because  they  are  all  hard  drinkers." 

"  The  captain  is  difficult  to  please.  Methinks  a  gentle- 
man would  at  least  bestow  promotion.  Your  children 
would  be  gentlefolk,  I  dare  say,  with  the  help  of  this  great 
fortune.  What  does  he  want,  however  ?  " 

"  He  talks  about  finding  a  young  man  of  position,  who  is 
also  virtuous." 

"  Oh  !  He  is  indeed  ambitious.  My  dear,  a  young  man 
of  position  who  wants  a  fortune  is  easily  found.  He  grows 
and  flourishes  in  the  park,  like  blackberries  on  a  hedge. 
But  when  you  speak  of  virtue,  the  virtuous  young  man  is 
not  so  common.  'Tis  a  wicked  world,  my  dear." 

"  The  captain  has  spoken  on  the  subject  to  Lord  Fyling- 
dale." 

"  I  believe  he  has  done  so.  He  may,  indeed,  entirely 
depend  upon  his  lordship's  advice,  whether  it  concerns  the 
placing  of  your  fortune  or  the  bestowal  of  your  hand." 

"The  captain,  I  know,  thinks  very  highly  of  Lord 
Fylingdale's  judgment." 

"  I  hope  also  of  his  virtue.  Indeed,  but  for  his  virtue, 
his  lordship  would  be  even  as  other  men,  which  would  be  a 
pity  for  other  men — I  mean,  for  him." 

She  then  began  to  give  Molly  advice  about  her  next  ap- 
pearance at  the  assembly. 

"  You  must  come  again ;  you  must  come  often ;  I  will 
take  care  that  you  find  partners.  You  must  not  show  that 
you  are  moved  in  the  least  by  the  treatment  you  have  re- 
ceived. But  I  would  advise  a  more  simple  dress.  Come 
to  me,  my  dear,  and  my  maid  shall  dress  you.  A  young 
girl  like  yourself  ought  not  to  wear  so  much  silk  and  lace, 
and  the  addition  of  the  gold  network  was  more  fitting  for 
a  matron  of  rank  than  a  young  unmarried  woman.  And 
as  for  the  jewels,  I  would  recommend  one  gold  chain  or  a 
necklace  of  pearls  and  a  bracelet  or  two — I  saw  one  with 


1 7o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

sapphires,  very  becoming — and  do  not  put  the  diamonds  in 
your  hair.  And  you  must  on  no  account  come  with  the 
bear  who  flopped  and  sprawled  with  you  before." 

"  Poor  Jack  !  " 

"Jack  ?     Is  he  your  brother  ?  " 

"  No.  He  is  my  old  friend.  And  he  is  mate  on  one  of 
my  ships — The  Lady  of  Lynn ." 

"  I  dare  say  he  would  like  to  command  the  other  Lady 
of  Lynn.  But,  Molly,  pray  be  careful.  A  Jack-in-the- 
box  is  apt  to  jump  up  high.  Take  care." 

So  saying  she  rose  to  go,  but  stopped  for  a  few  last 
words. 

"  Well,  my  dear,  you  must  seriously  prepare  yourself  to 
take  the  place  that  belongs  to  you  by  right  of  your  fortune. 
After  all,  what  is  rank  compared  with  wealth  ?  I  have  no 
doubt  that  some  sprig  of  quality  will  be  found  to  take  your 
hand — with  your  fortune.  At  first  the  women  will  flout 
you.  Keep  up  your  courage.  You  can  buy  their  kind- 
ness; you  can  buy  it  by  judicious  gifts,  or  by  finding  out 
their  secrets.  I  will  help  you  there,  my  dear.  I  know 
secrets  enough  to  crack  the  reputation  of  half  the  town." 

Molly  shuddered.  "You  make  me  afraid,"  she  said. 
"  Am  I  never  to  have  friends  ?  " 

The  Lady  Anastasia  shook  her  head.  "  Friends,  my 
dear  ?  What  does  the  girl  mean  ?  We  are  all  friends ; 
of  course  we  are  friends,  and  we  all  backbite  each  other 
and  carry  scandal  and  intrigue.  Friends,  my  dear?  In 
the  world  of  fashion  ?  " 

"  I  shall  never  like  the  world  of  fashion." 

"  Not  at  first.  But  the  liking  will  come.  There  is  no 
other  way  of  life  that  can  be  compared  with  it.  You  will 
rise  at  noon  after  a  cup  of  chocolate ;  you  will  spend  the 
afternoon  in  dressing ;  you  will  go  out  in  your  coach  or 
your  chair  to  breathe  the  air  of  the  park ;  you  will  take 
dinner  at  four ;  you  will  go  to  the  theatre  or  the  opera  at 
six ;  you  will  sit  down  to  cards  at  ten.  My  simple  native, 
you  know  not  half  the  joys  that  await  you  in  the  dear,  de- 
lightful, scandalous  town." 

So  she  went  on,  and  before  she  departed  she  had  made 
Molly  promise  to  visit  her  and  to  receive  a  continuation  of 
those  lessons  by  which  she  hoped,  in  the  interests  of  Lord 


A  TRUE  FRIEND  171 

Fylingdale,  to  make  the  girl  discontented  and  ready  to 
throw  herself,  fortune  and  all,  into  the  arms  of  herself  and 
her  associates.  As  yet  she  had  made  little  impression. 
Molly  was  not  anxious  for  any  change.  She  would  be 
content  to  go  on  as  before — the  darling  of  the  old  guardian 
— with  her  friends  and  the  people  among  whom  she  had 
lived  all  her  life — simple  in  their  tastes,  homely  in  their 
manners ;  to  be  like  her  mother,  a  maker  of  bread,  cakes, 
and  puddings ;  a  brewer  of  ale ;  the  mistress  of  the  still- 
room. 

"  Why,  Jack,"  she  said,  telling  me  something  of  this 
lesson  in  politeness.  "  I  am  to  go  away ;  to  live  in  Lon- 
don; to  leave  my  mother;  never  to  see  the  captain  any 
more ;  never  to  do  anything  again  ;  not  to  make  any  more 
puddings — such  as  you  like  so  much  ;  to  play  cards  every 
night;  to  have  no  friends;  and  to  backbite  and  slander 
everybody  I  know.  If  this  is  the  polite  world,  Jack,  let 
me  never  see  it.  'Tis  my  daily  prayer." 

You  shall  hear  how  her  prayer  was  granted,  yet  not  in 
the  way  she  would  have  asked.  And  this,  I  say  again,  is 
the  way  in  which  many  of  our  prayers  are  granted.  We 
get  what  is  good  for  us — if  we  pray  for  that  good  thing — 
but  not  by  the  way  we  would  have  chosen. 


CHAPTER  XX 
FIVE  O'CLOCK  IN  THE  MORNING 

IT  was  the  custom  with  some  of  the  high  flyers,  or  the 
bucks,  as  they  were  called,  when  the  card  room  was  closed, 
to  go  off  together  to  a  tavern,  there  to  finish  the  evening 
drinking,  singing,  gambling,  and  rioting  the  whole  night 
through  and  long  after  daylight.  Truly  the  town  of  Lynn 
witnessed  more  profligacy  and  wickedness  during  this  sum- 
mer than  all  its  long  and  ancient  history  had  contained  or 
could  relate. 

The  assembly  was  held  twice  a  week — on  Tuesday  and 
on  Friday.  It  was  on  Tuesday  night  that  a  certain  state- 
ment was  made  in  a  drunken  conversation  which  might 
have  awakened  suspicion  of  some  dark  design  had  it  been 
recorded.  A  small  company  of  the  said  high  flyers, 
among  whom  were  Colonel  Lanyon  and  the  young  man 
named  Tom  Rising,  marched  off  to  the  tavern  most  fre- 
quented by  them,  after  the  closing  of  the  rooms,  and  called 
for  punch,  cards,  and  candles.  Then  they  sat  down  to  play, 
with  the  ungodly  and  profane  discourse  which  they  affected. 
They  played  and  drank,  the  young  men  drinking  fast  and 
hard,  the  colonel,  after  his  custom,  keeping  his  head  cool. 

The  night  in  May  is  short ;  the  daylight  presently  began 
to  show  through  the  red  curtains  of  the  tavern  window;  then 
the  sun  rose ;  the  players  went  on,  regardless  of  the  dawn 
and  of  the  sun.  One  of  them  pulled  back  the  curtains  and 
blew  out  the  candles.  But  they  went  on  noisily.  One  of 
them  fell  off"  his  chair,  and  lay  like  a  log;  the  rest  drew 
close,  and  continued  to  drink  and  to  play.  Among  them 
no  one  played  higher  or  more  recklessly  than  Tom  Rising. 
It  was  a  game  in  which  one  holds  the  bank  and  takes  the 
bets  of  the  players.  Colonel  Lanyon  held  the  bank,  and 
took  Tom's  bets,  which  were  high,  as  readily  as  those  of  the 
others  which  were  low. 

At  five  in  the  morning  he  laid  down  the  cards. 

172 


FIVE  O'CLOCK  IN  THE  MORNING      173 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  we  have  played  enough,  and 
taken  more  than  enough,  I  fear.  Let  us  stop  the  game  at 
this  point." 

"You  want  to  stop,"  said  Tom  Rising,  whose  face  was 
flushed  and  his  speech  thick,  "  because  you've  been  win- 
ning. I  want  my  revenge — I  will  have  my  revenge." 

"  Sir,"  said  the  colonel,  "  any  man  who  says  that  I  refuse 
revenge  attacks  my  honour.  No,  sir.  To-morrow,  that  is 
to  say,  this  evening,  or  any  time  you  please  except  the 
present,  you  shall  have  your  revenge,  and  as  much  as  you 
please.  I  appeal  to  the  company.  Gentlemen,  it  is  now 
five  o'clock,  and  outside  broad  daylight.  The  market  bells 
have  already  begun.  Are  we  drunk  or  sober  ? " 

"  Drunk,  colonel,  drunk,"  said  the  man  on  the  floor. 

"  If  we  are  drunk  we  are  no  longer  in  a  condition  fit  for 
play.  Let  us  therefore  adjourn  until  the  evening.  Is  this 
fair,  gentlemen,  or  is  it  not  ?  I  will  go  on  if  you  please." 

"  It  is  quite  fair,  colonel,"  one  of  them  replied.  "  I  be- 
lieve you  have  lost,  and  you  might  insist  on  going  on." 

u  Then,  let  us  look  to  the  counters."  They  played  with 
counters  each  representing  a  guinea  or  two  or  five,  as  had 
been  agreed  upon  at  the  outset.  So  every  man  fell  to  count- 
ing and  exchanging  until  all  had  done  except  Tom  Rising, 
who  sat  apparently  stupid  with  drink.  Then  they  began  to 
pay  each  other  on  the  differences. 

u  Twenty-five  guineas,  colonel." 

The  colonel  passed  over  the  money  with  cheerfulness. 

"  Forty-three  guineas,  colonel." 

He  paid  this  sum — and  so  on  with  the  rest.  He  had 
lost,  it  appeared,  to  every  one  of  the  players  except  Tom 
Rising,  whose  reckoning  was  not  made  up.  They  were  all 
paid  immediately  and  cheerfully.  Now  the  gentlemen  of 
Norfolk  are  as  honourable  in  their  sport  as  any  in  the 
kingdom,  but  they  seldom  lose  without  a  curse  or  two. 
This  cheerfulness,  therefore,  under  ill  fortune  surprised 
them. 

The  colonel  turned  to  Tom,  whose  eyes  were  closing. 
"  Mr.  Rising,  we  will  settle,  if  you  please,  after  we  have 
slept  off"  the  punch." 

Tom  grunted  and  tried  to  speak.  He  was  at  that  point 
of  drunkenness  when  he  could  understand  what  was  said, 


174 


THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 


but  spoke  with  difficulty.  It  is  one  of  the  many  transient 
stages  of  intoxication. 

"Then,  gentlemen/'  said  the  colonel,  "we  can  meet 
again  whenever  you  please.  I  only  hope  that  you  are  satis- 
fied with  me  for  stopping  the  play  at  this  point." 

"  We  are,  colonel.  We  are  quite  satisfied."  So  they 
pushed  back  their  chairs  and  rose  somewhat  unsteadily. 
But  they  had  all  won,  and  therefore  had  reason  to  be  sat- 
isfied. 

"  I'm  not — not  satisfied."  Tom  Rising  managed  to  get 
out  these  words  and  tried  to,  but  without  success,  to  sit 
square  and  upright. 

"Well,  sir,"  said  the  colonel,  "you  shall  have  your 
revenge  to-morrow." 

"  I  want  it  now — I'll  have  it  now.  Bring  another  bowl." 
His  head  dropped  again. 

"  The  gentleman,"  said  the  colonel,  "  is  not  in  a  con- 
dition to  play.  It  would  be  cruel  to  play  with  him  in  this 
state." 

"  Come,  Tom,"  one  of  them  shook  him  by  the  arm, 
"  wake  up  and  be  reasonable." 

"  I've  lost  again,  and  I  want  revenge." 

"  To-morrow,  Tom,  the  colonel  will  give  you  as  much 
revenge  as  you  please." 

Tom  made  no  reply.     He  seemed  asleep. 

"  He  shall  have  as  much  revenge  as  he  pleases.  Mean- 
time, gentlemen,  we  have  been  pleasant  together,  so  far. 
But  this  young  gentleman  plays  high — very  high.  I  am 
ready  to  meet  his  wishes;  but,  gentlemen — far  be  it  from 
me  to  hint  that  he  is  not  a  gentleman  of  large  estate — but 
the  fact  is  that  he  has  lost  pretty  heavily  and  wants  to  go  on 
continually." 

"  Yesterday,"  Tom  spoke  with  closed  eyes,  "  it  was  eight 
hundred.  To-day  it's — how  much  to-day  ?  " 

They  looked  at  each  other.  "  Gentlemen,"  said  the 
colonel,  "  you  have  heard  what  he  says.  I  hope  you  will 
believe  me  when  I  assure  you  that  the  high  play  was  forced 
upon  me." 

They  knew  Tom  to  be  the  owner  of  a  pretty  estate  of 
about  .£1,200  a  year,  and  they  knew  him  to  be  a  sportsman, 
eager  and  reckless.  Eight  hundred  pounds  is  a  large  sum  to 


FIVE  O'CLOCK  IN  THE  MORNING      175 

raise  upon  an  estate  of  ,£1,200,  even  if  there  were  no  other 
demands  upon  it. 

"Say,  rather,  had  a  good  estate,"  said  another. 

"  I  need  not  point  out,  gentlemen,"  the  colonel  observed, 
severely,  "  the  extreme  injustice  of  admitting  to  our  circle 
those  who  venture  to  play  beyond  their  means.  Play  de- 
mands, above  all  things,  jealousy  in  admittance.  If  men 
of  honour  meet  for  a  few  hours  over  the  cards,  the  least 
they  can  demand  is  that,  since  they  have  to  pay  at  sight,  or 
within  reasonable  time,  no  one  shall  be  admitted  who  is  not 
able  to  pay  within  reasonable  time,  whatever  losses  he  may 
make.  You  and  I,  gentlemen,"  he  continued,  "  have  not 
forced  this  high  play  upon  our  friend  here." 

"  No.  Tom  would  always  fly  higher  than  his  neigh- 
bours." 

"  I  think,  colonel,"  said  one  of  them  gravely,  "  that  this 
matter  concerns  the  honour  of  the  place  and  the  county. 
You  come  among  us  a  man  of  honour;  you  play  and  pay 
honourably.  We  admit  Tom  Rising  into  our  company. 
He  must  raise  the  money.  But  you  will  grant  him  time. 
Eight  hundred  pounds  and  more " 

"  Perhaps  a  thousand,"  said  the  colonel. 

u  Cannot  be  raised  in  a  moment.  We  are  not  in  London  ; 
there  are  no  money  lenders  with  us ;  and  I  know  not  how 
much  has  been  already  raised  upon  the  estate.  But,  colonel, 
rest  assured  that  the  money  shall  be  duly  paid.  Perhaps  it 
will  be  well  not  to  admit  poor  Tom  to  our  table  in  future, 
though  it  will  be  a  hard  matter  to  deny  him." 

Then  Tom  himself  lifted  his  head. 

"  I  can  hear  what  you  say,  but  I  am  too  drunk  to  talk. 
Colonel,  it's  all  right.  Wait  a  day  or  two."  He  strug- 
gled again  to  sit  upright.  One  of  his  friends  loosened  his 
cravat,  another  took  off  his  wig  and  rubbed  his  head  with  a 
wet  cloth.  "  Why,"  he  said,  "  I  am  sober  again.  Let's 
have  another  bowl  and  another  game." 

"  No,  no,"  his  friends  cried  out  together.  "  Enough, 
Tom;  get  up  and  goto  bed." 

"  Colonel  Lanyon,"  he  said, "  and  friends  all — gentlemen 
of  this  honourable  company  " — he  ran  his  words  together  as 
men  in  liquor  use — but  they  understood  him  perfectly.  "  I 
will  play  as  high  as  I  like  ;  and  as  deep  as  I  like ;  and  as  long 


176  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

as  I  like.  I  will  play  till  I  have  stripped  every  man  among 
you  to  the  very  bones.  Why  do  I  say  this  ?  Because, 
gentlemen,  after  Friday  night  I  shall  be  the  richest  man  in  the 
county.  D'ye  hear?  The  richest  man  in  the  county. 
You  don't  know  how  ?  Very  well.  Do  you  think  I  am 
going  to  tell  you  ?  Ho !  ho !  when  you  hear  the  news, 
you'll  say,  'twas  only  Tom — only  Tom  Rising — had  the 
courage  to  venture  and  to  win." 

"  He  means  the  hazard  table,"  said  the  colonel. 

"  No ;  not  the  hazard  table,"  Tom  went  on.  "  Oh  !  I 
know  the  table  and  the  woman  who  keeps  the  bank,  and 
pretends  to  weep  when  you  lose.  I  know  about  her. 
I've  heard  talk  about  her.  What  is  it  ?  Don't  remember. 
Tell  you  to-morrow." 

"  He  should  stop  talking,"  said  the  colonel,  "  we  must 
not  listen  to  his  wanderings." 

"  Richest  man  in  the  county,"  he  repeated.  "  Colonel, 
I  like  your  company.  You  lay  down  your  money  like  a 
man.  In  a  week,  colonel,  I'll  have  it  all;  there  shan't 
be  a  guinea  left  among  you  all.  Richest  man  in  county — 
make — guineas — fly."  His  head  sunk  down  again.  He 
was  once  more  speechless. 

His  friends  looked  from  one  to  the  other.  What  did 
Tom  Rising  mean  ? 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  colonel,  "  he  has  been  drinking 
for  many  days.  He  has  some  kind  of  a  fit  upon  him. 
After  a  sleep  he  will  be  better.  Just  now  he  dreams  of 
riches.  I  have  known  men  in  such  a  condition  to  see  ani- 
mals, and  think  that  they  are  hunted  by  rats  and  clawed  by 
devils." 

Again  Tom  lifted  his  head  and  babbled  confusedly. 

"  The  richest  man — the  richest  man  in  the  whole  county. 
After  Friday  night — not  to-night — after  Friday  night.  I 
have  found  out  a  short  way  to  fortune.  The  richest  man 
in  the  county." 

So  they  left  him  sleeping  in  his  chair,  with  his  head  on  the 
table  among  the  glasses  and  the  spilt  punch.  It  was  not 
long,  however,  before  they  discovered  what  his  words  had 
meant.  It  was  not  the  raving  of  a  drunken  man,  but 
the  betrayal  in  his  cups — unfortunately  only  a  partial 
revelation  of  the  abominable  wickedness  by  which  he  pro- 


FIVE  O'CLOCK  IN  THE  MORNING      177 

posed  to  acquire  sudden  wealth.  Said  I  not  that  Tom 
Rising  was  never  one  to  be  balked  or  denied  when  he  had 
set  his  heart  upon  a  thing ;  nor  was  he  to  be  restrained  by 
any  consideration  of  law,  human  or  divine ;  or  of  conse- 
quences in  this  world  or  the  next  ?  You  shall  now  hear 
what  he  designed  and  what  he  called  the  shortest  way, 
and  how  he  was  going  to  become  the  richest  man  in  the 
county. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

MOLLY'S  SECOND  APPEARANCE 

MOLLY'S  first  appearance  was  at  the  assembly  of  Tues- 
day ;  her  second  on  that  of  Friday.  Between  these  two 
days,  as  you  have  seen,  a  good  many  things  happened,  not 
the  least  important  of  which  was  Lady  Anastasia's  "  adop- 
tion," so  to  speak,  of  Molly. 

On  Tuesday  she  came  with  the  captain,  whose  appear- 
ance betrayed  the  old  sailor,  followed  by  the  young  sailor, 
transformed,  for  one  night  only,  into  a  fine  gentleman.  On 
that  occasion  she  was  dressed  with  an  extravagant  display  of 
jewels  which  might  have  suited  an  aged  duchess  at  court, 
but  was  entirely  unfitting  to  a  young  girl  in  the  assembly  of 
a  watering  place ;  she  then  danced  as  if  every  step  had  been 
recently  taught  her  (which  was  indeed  the  case)  and  as  if 
every  posture  was  fresh  from  the  hands  of  the  dancing- 
master. 

This  evening  she  came  in  the  company  and  under  the 
protection  of  the  Lady  Anastasia  herself,  whose  acceptance 
of  her  right  to  appear  could  not  be  questioned,  save  in 
whispers  and  behind  the  fan.  The  former  partner  in  the 
minuet,  he  who  sprawled  and  trod  the  boards  like  an  ele- 
phant ;  the  sailor  who  would  pass  for  a  gentleman — in  a 
word,  her  old  friend,  Jack  Pentecrosse  (myself) — was  not 
present. 

I  had  proposed  to  accompany  her,  but  in  the  morning  I 
received  a  message  from  Lady  Anastasia,  "  Would  Mr. 
Pentecrosse  be  so  very  good  as  to  call  upon  her  immedi- 
ately ?  " 

I  went.  I  found  her  the  most  charming  lady,  with  the 
most  gracious  manner,  that  I  had  ever  seen.  She  was,  in- 
deed, the  only  lady  of  quality  with  whom  I  have  ever  con- 
versed. It  seemed  as  if  she  understood  perfectly  my  mind 
as  regards  Molly,  because  while  she  humiliated  me,  at  the 
same  time  she  made  me  feel  that  the  humiliation  was  neces- 

178 


MOLLY'S  SECOND  APPEARANCE         179 

sary  in  the  interests  of  Molly  herself.  In  a  word,  she  asked 
me  not  to  accompany  Molly  again  to  the  assembly,  nor  to 
present  myself  there ;  and,  therefore,  not  to  remind  the 
company  that  Molly's  friends  were  young  men  who  were 
not  gentlemen.  "  You  have  the  face  and  the  heart,  Mr.  Pen- 
tecrosse,"  she  said,  laying  her  white  hand  on  my  arm,  "  of 
a  man  of  honour.  With  such  a  man  as  yourself,  one  does 
not  ask  for  a  shield  and  a  pedigree.  But  where  women  are 
concerned  some  things  are  necessary.  You  love  our 
Molly  " — she  said  "  our  "  Molly,  and  yet  she  was  in  league 
with  the  arch  villain,  the  earl  among  lost  souls.  "  You  love 
her.  I  read  it  in  your  betraying  blush  and  in  your  humid 
eyes.  Therefore  you  will  consent  to  this  sacrifice  with  a 
cheerful  heart.  And,  Mr.  Pentecrosse — I  would  willingly 
call  you  Jack,  after  Molly's  sisterly  fashion — come  to  see 
me  again.  It  does  me  good — a  woman  of  fashion,  which  too 
often  means  of  hollow  hearts — to  converse  with  a  young 
man  so  honest  and  so  simple.  Come  again,  Jack.  I  am  here 
nearly  every  morning  after  prayers." 

I  obeyed,  of  course.  Who  could  resist  such  a  woman  ? 
Well,  Molly  appeared  under  her  protection.  She  was  now 
dressed  with  the  simplicity  that  belongs  to  youth,  yet  with 
a  simplicity  only  apparent  and  not  real.  For  the  cloth  of 
gold  and  the  embroidery  had  vanished ;  the  bracelets,  heavy 
with  rubies  and  emeralds,"  had  disappeared ;  the  golden 
cestus,  the  diamonds,  the  gold  chains,  all  were  gone.  But 
the  pink  silk  gown  and  the  white  silk  petticoat  which  she 
wore  were  costly  ;  the  neck  and  the  sleeves  were  edged  and 
adorned  with  lace  such  as  no  other  lady  in  the  room  could 
show ;  round  her  neck  lay  a  necklace  of  pearls  as  big  as 
cobnuts  ;  on  her  wrists  hung  a  fan  whose  handle  was  set 
with  sapphires  ;  and  in  her  hair,  such  was  the  simplicity  of 
the  maiden,  was  placed  a  white  rose.  Her  head  was  not 
built  after  the  former  manner,  but  was  covered  now  with 
natural  curls,  only  kept  in  place  by  the  art  of  the  friseur. 
In  a  word,  it  was  Molly  herself,  not  an  artificial  Molly ; 
Molly  herself,  just  adorned  with  the  feminine  taste  which 
raised  the  Lady  Anastasia  above  the  blind  laws  of  mere 
fashion  who  now  entered  the  room.  She  proclaimed  her- 
self once  more  as  the  heiress  with  a  more  certain  note  and 
with  less  ostentation. 


180  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  With  her  ladyship !  With  the  Lady  Anastasia ! " 
they  whispered  behind  their  fans.  "  What  next  ?  Are 
there  no  ladies  in  the  room  but  she  must  pick  up  this  girl 
out  of  the  gutter  ?  "  But  they  did  not  say  these  things 
aloud ;  on  the  contrary  they  pressed  around  her  ladyship, 
gazing  rudely  and  curiously  upon  the  intruder. 

"  Ladies,"  said  Lady  Anastasia,  "  let  me  present  my 
young  friend,  Miss  Molly,  the  heiress  of  Lynn.  I  entreat 
your  favour  towards  Miss  Molly,  who  deserves  all  the 
favours  you  can  afford,  being  at  once  modest,  as  yet  little 
acquainted  with  the  world  of  fashion,  and  endowed  by  for- 
tune with  gifts  which  are  indeed  precious." 

They  began  with  awkwardness  and  some  constraint  to 
express  cold  words  of  welcome ;  but  they  could  not  con- 
ceal their  chagrin,  and  two  or  three  of  them  withdrew  from 
the  throng  and  abstained  altogether  after  that  evening  from 
the  society  of  her  ladyship,  and,  as  they  were  but  plain 
wives  of  country  gentlemen,  this  abstention  cost  them 
many  pangs.  For  my  own  part,  now  that  I  know  more 
about  the  opinions  of  gentlefolk,  I  confess  that  I  think  they 
were  right.  If  there  is  an  impassable  gulf,  as  they  pretend, 
between  the  gentleman  and  the  mere  citizen  or  the  clown, 
then  they  stood  up  for  their  principles  and  their  order. 
Why  there  should  be  this  impassable  gulf  I  know  not ;  nor 
do  I  know  who  dug  it  out  and  set  one  class  on  one  side  and 
one  on  the  other ;  whereas  it  is  most  true  that  there  are 
many  noble  families  whose  ancestors  were  either  merchants 
or  were  enriched  by  marriages  with  the  daughters  of  mer- 
chants. Of  such  there  are  many  witnesses.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  girl  can  be  received  and  welcomed  among  the 
Quality  simply  because  she  has  a  great  fortune,  there  can 
be  no  such  gulf,  and  the  passage  from  one  class  to  the 
other  is  matter  of  worldly  goods  only.  There  are  also  cases 
in  which  the  sons  of  noble  and  gentle  houses  have  entered 
into  the  service  of  merchants,  and  have  themselves  either 
succeeded  and  made  themselves  rich,  or  have  sunk  down  to 
the  levels  of  retail  trade  and  of  the  crafts. 

Another  humiliation  was  in  store  for  these  ladies.  When 
Lord  Fylingdale  entered  the  assembly  he  walked  across  the 
room,  saluted  Lady  Anastasia,  and  bowed  low  to  Molly, 
who  blushed  and  was  greatly  confused  at  this  public  honour. 


MOLLY'S  SECOND  APPEARANCE         181 

"  Miss  Molly,"  he  said,  "  permit  me  to  salute  the  town 
of  Lynn  itself  in  your  fair  person.  The  town  of  Lynn  is 
our  hostess  ;  you  are  the  queen  of  Lynn ;  let  me  invite 
your  Majesty  to  open  the  ball  with  me." 

So  saying,  he  took  her  hand  and  led  her  out  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room,  while  the  music  struck  up  and  the  company 
formed  a  ring. 

As  for  me,  you  have  seen  that  I  made  a  promise.  I 
kept  it  in  the  spirit  but  not  in  the  letter.  That  is  to  say,  I 
went  in  my  ordinary  Sunday  clothes,  and  stood  at  the  door 
with  the  crowd  and  looked  in  at  the  gay  scene.  Molly 
danced  with  his  lordship.  My  heart  sank  when  I  saw  the 
ease  and  dignity  of  his  steps,  and  the  corresponding  grace 
of  hers.  There  was  neither  sliding  nor  sprawling.  Then 
after  the  dance  I  saw  her  standing  beside  the  Lady  Anas- 
tasia,  her  eyes  sparkling,  her  cheek  flushed,  smiling  and 
laughing,  while  a  whole  troop  of  gentlemen  surrounded  her 
with  compliments.  She  seemed  quite  happy  with  them. 
As  for  me,  I  felt  that  I  was  no  longer  of  any  use  to  her; 
she  was  flying  far  above  me  ;  my  place  was  at  the  door  with 
those  who  had  no  right  to  enter.  So  I  stole  away  out  of 
the  gardens  and  into  the  silent  streets,  while  the  music  fol- 
lowed me,  seeming  to  laugh  and  to  mock  me  as  I  crept 
along  with  unwilling  feet  and  sinking  heart.  "  Go  home  ! 
Go  home !  "  it  said.  u  Go  home  to  your  cabin  and  your 
bunk  !  This  place  is  not  for  you.  Go  home  to  your  tar- 
paulin and  your  salt  junk  and  your  rum  !  " 

I  did  not  obey  immediately.  I  went  to  the  captain's. 
Molly's  mother  was  sitting  there  alone.  Nigra  was  at  the 
assembly  to  look  after  her  mistress ;  the  captain  was  there 
also,  looking  on  from  a  corner ;  Molly's  mother  was  alone 
in  the  parlour,  her  work  in  her  hands,  stitching  by  the  light 
of  a  single  tallow  candle ;  and  while  she  stitched  her  lips 
moved. 

She  looked  up.     "  Jack,"  she  cried,  "  where  is  Molly  ?  " 

"  She  is  enjoying  herself  with  her  new  friends.  I  am 
no  longer  wanted.  So  I  came  away." 

"  My  poor  Jack  !  "  She  laid  down  her  needlework  and 
looked  at  me.  "  You  can't  make  up  your  mind  to  lose 
her.  What  do  you  think  I  feel  about  it,  then  ?  Sure,  a 
mother  feels  more  than  a  lover.  If  she  goes,  Jack,  she 


1 82  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

will  never  come  back  again.  We  shall  lose  her  altogether. 
She  will  never  come  back."  With  this  the  tears  rolled 
down  her  cheek. 

"We  ought  not  to  grumble  and  to  grutch,"  she  went 
on.  "  Why,  it  is  for  her  own  good.  The  captain  has  told 
us  all  along  that  she  was  too  great  a  catch  for  any  of  the 
folk  about  here.  There  is  never  a  day  but  he  tells  me  this, 
again  and  again.  Not  a  man,  he  says,  is  worthy  of  such 
a  fortune !  Jack,  when  I  think  of  the  days  when  my  man 
and  me  were  married ;  he  never  wanted  me  to  know  how 
rich  he  was.  What  did  I  want  with  the  money  ?  I  wanted 
the  man,  not  his  fortune.  The  jewels  and  the  chains  lay 
in  the  cupboard — the  foolish  glittering  things !  He  fol- 
lowed simple  ways,  and  lived  like  his  neighbours.  And  as 
for  Molly,  I've  brought  her  up  as  her  poor  father  would 
have  had  it;  there  is  no  better  housewife  anywhere  than 
Molly  ;  no  lighter  hand  with  the  crust ;  no  surer  hand  with 
the  home-brewed ;  no  safer  hand  with  the  poultry.  And 
all  to  be  thrown  away  because  she's  got  such  a  fortune  as 
would  be  wasted  on  an  honest  lad  like  you,  Jack,  or  some 
good  gentleman  from  the  country  side." 

"We  can  do  nothing,  mother  —  except  to  wish  her 
happiness." 

"  Nothing  ;  not  even  to  find  out  the  kind  of  man  she  is 
to  marry.  The  captain  is  all  for  taking  this  Lord  Fyling- 
dale's  advice.  Why  his  lordship  should  take  to  the  cap- 
tain I  cannot  understand.  Sammy  Semple  was  here  to-day 
— a  worm,  a  wriggling  worm — saying  how  soft  and  virtuous 
his  lordship  is.  Well,  Jack,  I  thought — if  he  has  no 
masterfulness  in  him  he  isn't  any  kind  of  man  to  advise 
about  a  woman.  Now,  Molly's  father  had  a  fine  quick 
temper  of  his  own,  and  Molly  needs  a  master.  Then  this 
lady  Anastasia,  who  seems  kindly,  offers  to  take  her  to 
town,  where  she  will  learn  cards  and  wickedness.  But  I 
doubt,  Jack — I  doubt.  My  mind  is  full  of  trouble.  It  is 
a  dreadful  thing  to  have  a  rich  daughter." 

"Would  to  God,"  I  said,  "she  had  nothing." 

"  For  the  men  they  will  come  around  her ;  and  the 
women  they  will  hate  her — and  she  will  be  too  good  for 
her  own  folk,  and  too  low  for  the  folks  above,  and  they 
will  all  want  her  money,  and  they  will  all  scorn  her." 


MOLLY'S  SECOND  APPEARANCE         183 

"  Nay,"  I  said,  "  she  is  too  beautiful." 

"  Beauty  !  Much  women  care  about  beauty  !  I  have 
dreams  at  night,  and  I  wake  up  terrified  and  the  dreams  re- 
main with  me  still  in  the  waste  of  the  night  like  ghosts. 
Oh,  Jack,  Jack,  I  am  a  miserable  woman  !  " 

I  left  her.  I  rowed  off  to  the  ship  and  sought  my 
cabin. 

After  dancing  with  his  lordship,  who  then  offered  his 
hand  to  a  lady  of  the  county,  Molly  stood  up  with  the 
young  man  called  Tom  Rising,  who  was  by  this  time  as 
sober  as  could  be  expected  after  such  a  night.  He,  in  the 
hearing  of  everybody,  loaded  her  with  compliments  of  the 
common  kind,  such  as  would  suit  a  milkmaid,  but  were  not 
proper  for  a  modest  woman  to  hear.  To  these,  however, 
Molly  returned  no  reply,  and  danced  as  if  she  heard  them 
not.  She  then  rejoined  Lady  Anastasia,  and,  with  her,  re- 
tired to  the  card  room,  whither  many  of  the  young  men 
followed  her.  She  stood  beside  her  ladyship,  and  obliged 
the  young  men  by  choosing  cards  for  them,  which  they 
lost  or  won.  Tom  Rising  followed  her,  and  stood  beside 
her  with  flushed  face  and  trembling  hands.  It  was  re- 
marked afterwards  that  he  seemed  to  assume  the  care  of 
her.  He  kept  gazing  upon  Molly  with  fierce  and  ravenous 
looks,  like  a  wolf  who  hungers  after  his  prey  and  lives  to 
wait  for  it.  He  played  the  while,  however,  and  lost  during 
the  evening,  I  believe,  some  hundreds  of  pounds ;  but,  for 
reasons  which  you  will  presently  hear,  he  never  paid  that 
money. 

When  the  country  dances  began  Lord  Fylingdale  led  out 
Molly  once  more,  and  placed  her  at  the  head. 

It  was  too  much.  Some  of  the  ladies  refused  to  dance  at 
all.  Those  who  did  were  constrained  and  cold.  But 
Molly  was  triumphant.  She  was  not  an  angel.  One 
could  not  blame  her  for  resenting  the  flouts  and  scorn  with 
which  she  had  been  treated.  Now,  however,  she  was  the 
first  lady  of  the  company  next  to  Lady  Anastasia,  because 
she  had  been  taken  out  both  for  the  minuet  and  the  country 
dance  by  the  first  gentleman  present. 

I  do  not  think  that  his  lordship  paid  her  any  compli- 
ments. He  danced  as  he  moved,  and  spoke  with  a  cold 
dignity  which  stiffened  his  joints,  Now,  in  a  country 


184  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

dance,  Molly,  for  her  part,  danced  all  over,  her  feet  and  her 
body  moving  together,  her  hands  and  arms  dancing,  her 
eyes  dancing,  her  hair  dancing.  They  danced  quite  down 
the  lines  until  every  couple  had  had  their  turn. 

"  Miss  Molly,"  said  her  partner,  "  you  dance  with  the 
animation  of  a  wood  nymph,  or,  perhaps,  a  nymph  of  the 
ocean.  I  would  that  the  ladies  of  London  possessed  half 
the  vivacity  of  the  Lady  of  Lynn." 

He  offered  her  the  refreshment  of  wine  or  chocolate,  but 
she  declined,  saying  that  the  captain  now  would  be  wishing 
her  to  go  home,  and  that  her  chair  would  be  waiting. 

So  his  lordship  led  her  to  the  door,  where,  indeed,  her 
chair  was  waiting  but  no  captain,  and,  bowing  low,  he 
handed  her  in  and  shut  the  door,  and  he  returned  to  the 
assembly,  and  Molly's  chair  was  immediately  lifted  up  and 
borne  rapidly  away,  she  sitting  alone,  thinking  of  the  even- 
ing and  of  her  great  triumph,  suspecting  no  evil  and  think- 
ing of  no  danger. 

A  minute  later  the  captain  came  to  the  door.  There  he 
saw  Molly's  chairmen,  waiting  with  her  chair.  He  looked 
about  him.  Where  was  Molly  ?  He  returned  to  the  as- 
sembly. The  girl  was  not  there.  He  looked  into  the 
card  room.  His  lordship  was  standing  at  the  table  looking 
on.  "  My  lord,"  said  the  captain,  in  confusion,  "  where 
is  my  ward  ?  " 

"  Miss  Molly  ?  Why,  captain,  I  put  her  into  her  chair 
five  minutes  ago.  She  is  gone." 

"  Her  chair  ?  "  The  captain  turned  pale.  "  Her  chair 
is  now  at  the  door  with  her  chairmen." 

"  What  devilry  is  forward  ? "  cried  Lord  Fylingdale. 
"  Come  with  me,  captain.  Come  with  me  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE    ABDUCTION 

THE  daring  attempt  to  carry  off  this  heiress  and  to  marry 
her  by  force  proved  in  the  end  the  most  effective  instru- 
ment in  the  success  of  Lord  Fylingdale's  schemes  that 
could  possibly  be  desired  or  designed.  So  great  is  my  mis- 
trust of  the  man  that  I  have  sometimes  doubted  whether 
the  whole  affair  was  not  contrived  by  him.  I  dismiss  the 
suspicion,  however,  not  because  it  is  in  the  least  degree  un- 
worthy of  his  character,  but  because  it  is  unworthy  of  the 
character  of  Tom  Rising.  To  carry  off  a  girl  is  not 
thought  dishonourable,  especially  as  it  can  always  be  made 
to  appear  that  it  was  with  the  consent  of  the  girl  herself. 
But  to  enter  into  a  conspiracy  for  the  furtherance  of  an- 
other man's  secret  designs  would  be  impossible  for  such  a 
man.  Besides,  his  subsequent  conduct  proves  that  he  was 
not  in  any  way  mixed  up  with  the  grand  conspiracy  of 
which  most  of  the  conspirators  knew  nothing. 

The  chair  into  which  Molly  stepped  without  suspicion, 
and  without  even  looking  for  the  captain,  who  should  have 
walked  beside  her,  stood,  as  I  have  said,  before  the  entrance 
of  the  long  room.  Outside,  the  trees  were  hung  with 
coloured  lamps ;  the  place  was  as  bright  as  in  the  sunshine 
of  noon — one  would  think  that  nothing  could  be  done  in 
such  a  place  which  would  not  be  observed.  There  is,  how- 
ever, one  thing  which  is  never  observed  ;  it  is  the  personal 
appearance  of  servants.  No  one  regards  the  boatman  of 
the  ferry ;  or  the  driver  of  the  hackney  coach  ;  or  the  post- 
boy ;  or  the  chairmen.  The  chair,  then,  stood  with  its 
door  open  opposite  to  the  entrance  of  the  long  room. 
The  chairmen  stood  retired,  a  little  in  the  shade,  but  not  so 
far  off  as  to  need  calling,  when  Lord  Fylingdale  handed  in 
the  lady.  This  done,  he  stood  hat  in  hand,  bowing.  The 
chairmen  stepped  up  briskly,  seized  the  poles,  and  marched 

185 


1 86  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

off  with  the  quick  step  of  those  who  have  a  light  burden  to 
carry.  No  one  observed  the  faces  of  the  chairmen,  or,  in- 
deed, thought  of  looking  at  them  ;  no  one  remarked  the  fact 
that  Tom  Rising  walked  out  of  the  long  room  directly 
afterwards  and  followed  the  chair.  Within,  Molly  sat  un- 
suspecting, excited  by  the  triumphs  of  the  evening.  The 
chair  passed  through  the  gardens  and  the  gates  recently 
erected ;  instead  of  turning  to  the  right,  which  would  lead 
into  Hogman's  Lane,  the  chairmen  turned  to  the  left, 
through  the  town  gate,  and  so,  turning  northwards,  into  the 
open  fields.  Yet  Molly  observed  nothing.  I  think  she 
fell  asleep ;  when  she  came  to  herself  she  looked  out  of  the 
window.  On  the  right  and  on  the  left  of  her  were  open 
fields. 

It  was  a  clear  evening.  Towards  the  middle  of  May 
there  is  no  black  darkness,  but  only  a  dimmer  outline  and 
deeper  shadows.  Molly,  who  knew  the  country  round 
Lynn  perfectly  well,  understood  at  once  that  she  had  been 
carried  outside  the  town ;  that  she  was  no  longer  on  the 
high  road  but  on  one  of  the  cross  tracks — one  cannot  call 
them  roads  which  connect  the  villages — so  that  there  was 
very  little  chance  of  meeting  any  passengers  or  vehicles. 
And  by  the  stars  she  saw  that  they  were  carrying  her  in  a 
northerly  direction. 

She  perceived,  therefore,  that  some  devilry  was  going  on. 
Now,  she  was  not  a  girl  who  would  try  to  help  herself  in 
such  a  deserted  and  lonely  spot  by  shrieking ;  nor  did  she 
see  that  any  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  calling  to 
the  chairmen  to  let  her  out.  She  sat  up,  therefore,  her 
heart  beating  a  little  faster  than  usual,  and  considered  what 
she  should  do. 

No  one  is  ignorant  that  an  heiress  goes  in  continual  peril 
of  abduction.  To  run  away  with  an  heiress ;  to  persuade 
her;  threaten  her;  cajole  her;  or  terrify  her  into  marriage 
is  a  thing  which  has  been  attempted  hundreds  of  times,  and 
has  succeeded  many  times.  Nay,  there  are,  I  am  told, 
women  of  cracked  reputation  and  in  danger  of  arrest  and 
the  King's  Bench  for  debt  who  will  visit  places  of  resort  in 
order  to  pass  themselves  off  as  heiresses  to  great  fortunes, 
hoping  thereby  to  tempt  some  gallant  adventurer  to  carry 
them  off,  and  so  to  take  over  their  debts  instead  of  the 


THE  ABDUCTION  187 

fortunes  they  expected.  And  there  are  stories  in  plenty  of 
adventurers  looking  about  them  for  an  heiress  whom  they 
may  carry  off  at  the  risk  of  a  duello,  which  generally  fol- 
lows, at  the  hands  of  the  lady's  friends. 

Molly,  therefore,  though  not  a  woman  of  fashion,  under- 
stood by  this  time  her  value,  especially  in  the  eyes  of  the 
adventurer.  And  she  also  understood  quite  clearly  at  this 
moment  that  she  had  been  carried  away  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  her  guardian,  and  that  the  intention  of  the  abductor 
was  nothing  more  or  less  than  a  forced  marriage  and  the 
acquisition  of  her  fortune.  "Jack,"  she  told  me  after- 
wards, "  I  confess  that  I  did  wish,  just  for  a  little,  that  you 
might  be  coming  along  the  road  with  a  trusty  club.  But 
then  I  remembered  that  I  was  no  puny  thread  paper  of  a 
woman,  but  as  strong  as  most  men,  and  I  took  courage. 
Weapon  I  had  none,  except  a  steel  bodkin  gilt  stuck  in  my 
hair — a  small  thing,  but  it  might  serve  if  any  man  ventured 
too  near.  And  I  thought,  besides,  that  there  would  be  a 
hue  and  cry,  and  that  the  country  round  would  be  scoured 
in  all  directions.  They  would  most  certainly  grow  tired  of 
carrying  me  about  in  a  chair;  they  must  stop  somewhere 
and  put  me  into  some  place  or  other.  I  thought,  also,  that 
I  could  easily  manage  to  keep  off  one  man,  or  perhaps  two, 
and  that  it  would  be  very  unlikely  that  more  than  one 
would  attempt  to  force  me  into  marriage.  Perhaps  I  might 
escape.  Perhaps  I  might  barricade  myself.  Perhaps  my 
bodkin  might  help  me  to  save  myself.  I  would  willingly 
stab  a  man  to  the  heart  with  it.  Perhaps  I  might  pick  up 
something — a  griddle  would  be  a  weapon  handy  for  brain- 
ing a  man,  or  even  a  frying  pan  would  do.  Whatever  hap- 
pened, Jack,  I  was  resolved  that  nothing,  not  even  fear  of 
murder,  should  make  me  marry  the  man  who  had  carried 
me  off." 

There  are  found  scattered  about  the  byroads  of  the 
country  many  small  inns  for  the  accommodation  of  persons 
of  the  baser  sort.  Hither  resort,  on  the  way  from  one 
village  to  another,  the  sturdy  tramp,  whose  back  is  scored 
by  many  a  whipping  at  the  hands  of  constable  and  head- 
borough.  What  does  he  care  ?  He  hitches  his  shoulders 
and  goes  his  way,  lifting  from  the  hedge  and  helping  him- 
self from  the  poultry  yard.  Here  you  may  find  the  travel- 


1 88  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

ling  tinker,  who  has  a  language  of  his  own.  Here  you  will 
find  the  pedlar  with  his  pack.  He  is  part  trader,  part  re- 
ceiver of  stolen  goods,  part  thief,  part  carrier  of  messages 
and  information  between  thieves.  Here  also  you  will  meet 
the  footpad  and  the  highwayman ;  the  smuggler  and  the 
poacher,  and  the  fugitive.  If  an  honest  man  should  put  up 
at  one  of  these  places  he  will  meet  with  strange  companions 
in  the  kitchen,  and  with  strange  bedfellows  in  the  chamber. 
If  they  suspect  that  he  has  money  they  will  rob  him ;  if 
they  think  that  he  will  give  evidence  against  them  they 
will  murder  him.  In  a  word,  such  a  wayside  inn  is  the 
receptacle  of  all  those  who  live  by  robbery,  by  begging,  by 
pretence,  and  lies  and  roguery. 

It  was  before  such  a  wayside  inn  that  the  chairmen 
stopped.  Molly  knew  it  very  well.  It  was  at  a  place 
called  Riffley's  Spring ;  the  inn  is  "  The  Traveller's 
Rest "  ;  it  stood  just  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Lynn,  and 
one  mile  from  the  village  of  Wootton.  It  was  a  small 
house,  gloomy,  and  ill-lighted  at  the  best ;  there  was  a  door 
in  the  middle.  The  diamond  panes  of  the  windows  were 
mostly  broken  in  their  leaden  frames;  the  woodwork  was 
decaying ;  the  upper  floor  projecting  darkened  the  lower 
rooms ;  in  the  dim  twilight,  when  the  chair  stopped,  the 
house  looked  a  dark  and  noisome  place,  fit  only  for  cut- 
throats and  murderers. 

The  poles  were  withdrawn  and  the  door  thrown  open. 
Molly,  looking  out,  saw  before  her,  hat  in  hand,  her  late 
partner,  the  young  fellow  they  called  Tom  Rising. 

"  Oh  !  "  she  cried.  "  Is  it  possible  ?  I  thought  I  was 
in  the  hands  of  some  highwayman.  Is  this  your  doing, 
sir  ?  I  was  told  that  you  were  a  gentleman." 

He  bowed  low,  and  began  a  little  speech  which  he  had 
prepared  in  readiness  : 

"  Madam,  you  will  confess  that  you  are  yourself  alone 
to  blame.  Fired  with  the  sight  of  so  much  loveliness,  what 
wonder  if  I  aspired  to  possess  myself  of  these  charms.  Sure 
a  Laplander  himself  would  be  warmed,  even  in  his  frozen 
region." 

"  Sir,  what  nonsense  is  this  ?     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean,  madam,  that  your  lovely  face  and  figure  are 
sufficient  excuse,  not  only  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  but  in 


THE  ABDUCTION  189 

your  own  eyes,  for  an  action  such  as  this.  The  violence 
of  the  passion  which " 

"  Sir,  will  you  order  your  fellows  to  take  me  back  ?  " 

"  No,  madam,  I  will  not." 

"  Then,  sir,  will  you  tell  me  what  you  propose  to  do  ?  " 

"I  intend  to  marry  you." 

"  Against  my  consent  ?  " 

"  I  have  you  in  my  power.  I  shall  ask  your  consent.  If 
you  grant  it  we  shall  enter  upon  married  life  as  a  pair  of 
lovers  should.  If  you  refuse — I  shall  be  the  master,  but 
you  will  be  the  wife." 

Molly  laughed.  "  You  think  that  I  am  afraid  ?  Very 
well,  sir.  If  you  persist  you  shall  have  a  lesson  in  love- 
making  that  will  last  your  lifetime." 

"  Everything  is  fair  in  love.  Come,  madam,  you  will 
please  to  get  out  of  the  chair." 

"  What  a  villain  is  this  !  "  said  Molly.  "  He  is  in  love 
with  my  fortune  and  he  pretends  it  is  my  person.  He 
thinks  to  steal  my  fortune  when  he  runs  away  with  me. 
You  are  a  highwayman,  Mr.  Rising ;  a  common  thief  and 
a  common  robber.  You  shall  be  hanged  outside  Norwich 
Gaol." 

Tom  Rising  swore  a  great  oath,  calling,  in  his  blasphem- 
ous way,  upon  the  Lord  to  inflict  dire  pains  and  penalties 
upon  him  if  he  should  resign  the  lovely  object  of  his  affec- 
tion now  in  his  possession.  You  have  heard  that  he  had 
the  reputation  of  a  reckless  dare  devil  who  stuck  at  noth- 
ing, was  daunted  by  nothing,  and  was  like  a  bulldog  for  his 
tenacity. 

"  Understand,  madam,"  he  concluded  this  declaration, 
"  I  am  resolved  to  marry  you.  Resolved.  Bear  that  in 
mind." 

"  And  I,  sir,  am  resolved  that  I  will  not  marry  you. 
Resolved.  Bear  that  in  mind." 

"  Never  yet  did  I  resolve  upon  anything  but  I  had  it. 
No ;  never  yet." 

"  Mr.  Rising,  you  think  you  have  me  in  your  power. 
You  shall  see.  Once  more  I  ask  you,  as  a  gentleman,  to 
send  me  back.  Remember  I  have  many  friends.  The 
whole  town,  high  and  low,  will  be  presently  out  after  me. 
scouring  the  country." 


i9o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  In  an  hour  you  will  be  at  Wootton.  The  parson  hath 
promised  to  await  us  there.  You  will  be  my  wife  in  one 
short  hour's  time." 

"You  waste  words,  sir." 

"You  will  have  to  alight,  madam.  The  post-chaise 
is  here  to  carry  us  to  Wootton,  where  the  parson 
waits  to  marry  us.  In  an  hour,  I  say,  you  shall  be  my 
wife." 

Molly  looked  out  of  the  other  window.  The  post-chaise 
was  there  with  its  pair  of  horses,  and  the  postboy  waiting 
at  the  horses'  heads.  She  would  have  to  make  her  stand  at 
once,  therefore.  To  get  into  the  post-chaise  with  that 
man  would  be  dangerous,  even  though  she  was  as  strong  as 
himself,  and,  since  she  was  not  a  drinker  of  wine,  she  was 
in  a  better  condition. 

"  I  looked  round  at  the  house,"  she  told  me  afterwards. 
"  I  thought  that  if  I  could  get  into  the  house  I  might  gain 
some  time — perhaps  I  could  bar  the  door — perhaps  I  could 
find  that  griddle  or  the  frying  pan  of  which  I  spoke.  Or 
if  it  came  to  using  the  bodkin,  there  would  be  more  room 
for  my  arm  in  a  house  than  in  a  chair  or  a  chaise.  So  I 
had  one  more  parley,  in  order  to  gain  time,  and  then  slipped 
out." 

"  Sir,"  she  said,  "  I  give  you  one  more  chance  of  retain- 
ing the  name  and  reputation  of  gentleman.  Carry  me 
back,  or  else  await  the  vengeance  of  my  friends.  I  warn 
you  solemnly  that  murder  will  be  done  before  I  marry  you. 
Understand,  sir,  murder  of  you,  or  your  confederates,  or 
myself." 

She  spoke  with  so  much  calmness  and  with  so  much  res- 
olution that  she  aroused  all  his  native  obstinacy.  Besides, 
it  was  now  too  late.  The  news  of  the  abduction  would  be 
all  over  Lynn — he  must  carry  the  thing  through.  He 
swore  another  loud  and  blasphemous  oath.  Heavens  !  how 
he  was  punished  !  How  swiftly  and  speedily  ! 

Molly  stepped  out  of  the  chair.  Tom  Rising,  his  hat  in 
hand,  again  bowed  low.  "  Madam,"  he  said,  "  you  are 
well  advised.  Pray  let  me  hand  you  into  the  chaise." 

She  made  no  reply,  but,  rushing  past  him,  darted  into 
the  house.  She  stumbled  down  one  step  and  found  herself 
in  a  room  where  the  twilight  outside  could  not  penetrate. 


THE  ABDUCTION  191 

It  was  quite  dark.  She  closed  the  door  behind  her  and 
bolted  it,  finding  a  bolt  in  the  usual  place. 

Then  she  waited  a  moment,  thinking  what  she  could  do 
next.  A  rustling  and  a  footstep  showed  that  she  was  not 
alone. 

"  Who  is  there  ?  "  she  cried.     "  Is  there  no  light  ?  " 

She  heard  the  striking  of  flint  and  steel;  she  saw  the 
spluttering  yellow  light  of  a  match,  and  by  its  flickering  she 
discerned  an  old  woman  trying  to  light  a  candle — a  rush- 
light in  a  tin  frame,  with  holes  at  the  sides. 

Molly  looked  quietly  round  the  room.  A  knife  lay  on 
the  table.  She  took  it  up.  It  was  one  of  the  rough  clasp 
knives,  used  by  rustics  when  they  eat  their  dinners  under 
the  hedge.  She  stepped  forward  and  took  the  light  from  the 
old  woman's  hand. 

"  Quick  !  "  she  said,  "  who  is  in  the  house  ? " 

"  No  one,  except  myself.  He  said  the  house  was  to  be 
kept  clear  to-night." 

"  Can  they  get  in  ?  " 

"  They  can  kick  the  house  down  if  they  like,  it's  so  old 
and  crazy." 

"  Is  there  an  upper  room  ?  " 

The  old  woman  pointed  to  the  far  corner.  Molly  now 
perceived  that  the  place  was  the  kitchen,  the  tap-room,  the 
sitting-room,  and  all.  A  table  was  in  the  middle ;  a  settle 
was  standing  beside  the  fireplace;  there  was  a  bench  or 
two ;  mugs  and  cups  of  wood,  pewter  and  common  ware 
stood  on  the  mantelshelf;  a  side  of  bacon  hung  in  the 
chimney.  In  the  corner,  to  which  the  old  woman  pointed, 
was  a  ladder.  Molly  ran  across  the  room.  At  the  top  of 
the  ladder  there  was  a  square  opening  large  enough  for  her 
passage.  She  went  up,  and  found  herself,  by  the  dim  rush- 
light, in  an  upper  chamber,  the  floor  of  which  was  covered 
with  flock  beds  laid  on  the  boards.  There  was  one  small 
frame  of  glass  in  the  roof,  which  was  not  made  to  open.  The 
place  reeked  with  foul  air,  worse  than  the  orlop  deck  or  the 
hold  after  a  voyage. 

Down  below  she  heard  her  captor  kicking  at  the  door. 
Apparently,  the  old  woman  drew  back  the  bolt,  for  he  came 
in  noisily,  swearing  horribly.  Apparently,  the  old  woman 
pointed  to  the  ladder,  or  perhaps  the  glimmer  from  the 


i92  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

room  above  guided  him.  He  came  to  the  ladder  and  tried 
persuasion. 

"Molly,  my  dear,"  he  cried,  "come  down,  come  down. 
I  won't  harm  you.  Upon  my  honour  I  will  not.  I  want 
only  to  put  you  into  the  chaise  and  carry  you  off  to  be  mar- 
ried. Molly,  you  are  the  loveliest  girl  in  the  county. 
Molly,  I  say,  there  is  nobody  can  hold  a  candle  to  you. 
Molly,  I  will  make  you  as  happy  as  the  day  is  long. 
Molly,  I  love  you  ten  times  as  well  as  that  proud  lord.  He 
will  not  marry  you.  There  isn't  a  man  in  all  the  company 
I  will  not  fight  for  your  sake.  Don't  think  I  will  let  any 
other  man  have  you.  Damn  it,  Molly,  why  don't  you 
answer? " 

For  now  she  kept  silence.  The  more  he  parleyed,  the 
more  time  she  gained.  But  she  found  one  or  two  loose 
boards  that  had  been  used  for  laying  in  trestles  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  flock  beds.  She  laid  them  across  the  trapdoor, 
but  there  was  nothing  to  keep  them  down. 

Then  Tom  Rising  began  to  swear  at  the  old  woman. 

"  You  fool !  You  blundering,  silly,  jenny  ass  of  a  fool. 
What  the  devil  did  you  give  her  the  candle  for? " 

"  I  didn't  give  it.     She  took  it." 

"  Go,  get  another  candle,  then." 

"  There  are  no  more  candles,  master,"  said  the  old 
woman  in  her  feeble  voice.  "  She's  got  the  only  one." 

"  Molly,  if  you  won't  come  down  I  shall  force  my 
way  up." 

Still  she  kept  silence. 

He  took  two  steps  up  the  ladder  and  lifted  the  boards, 
showing  the  fingers  of  his  left  hand.  Molly  applied  her 
knife,  gently  but  dexterously ;  but  it  touched  the  bone,  and 
taught  him  what  to  expect.  He  drew  back  with  a  cry  of 
rage. 

"Come  down,"  he  said,  "or  it  will  be  worse  for  you. 
Come  down,  I  say." 

He  had  not  reckoned  on  a  knife  and  on  the  girl's  courage 
in  using  it. 

"  Molly,"  he  said  again,  more  softly,  "  come  down." 

She  still  maintained  silence. 

"You  have  no  food  up  there,"  he  went  on.  "Your 
window  is  only  a  light  in  the  roof  looking  away  from  the 


THE  ABDUCTION  193 

road.  No  one  from  Lynn  will  come  this  way.  If  they 
do  they  will  see  nothing.  You  had  better  come  down. 
Molly,  I  shall  wait  here  for  a  month.  I  shall  starve  you 
out.  Do  you  hear  ?  By  the  Lord,  I  will  set  fire  to  the 
thatch  and  burn  you  out.  By  the  Lord,  you  shall  come 
down." 

So  he  raved  and  raged.  Meantime  the  two  chairmen, 
who  were  his  own  servants,  stood,  pole  in  hand,  one  in  front 
of  the  house  and  one  behind,  to  prevent  an  escape.  But  this 
was  impossible,  because  the  room,  as  you  have  heard,  had 
no  other  window  than  a  small  square  opening  in  the  roof, 
in  which  was  fitted  a  piece  of  coarse,  common  glass. 

"  Jack,"  she  told  me,  "  when  he  talked  of  setting  fire  to 
the  thatch  I  confess  I  trembled,  because,  you  see,  my  knife 
would  not  help  me  there.  And,  indeed,  I  think  he  would 
have  done  it,  because  he  was  like  one  that  has  gone  mad 
with  rage.  He  was  like  a  mad  bull.  He  stormed,  he 
raged,  he  cursed  and  swore ;  he  called  me  all  the  names  you 
ever  heard  of — such  names  as  the  sailors  call  their  sweet- 
hearts when  they  are  in  a  rage  with  them — and  then  he 
called  me  all  the  endearing  names,  such  as  loveliest  of  my 
sex,  fairest  nymph,  tender  beauty.  What  a  man  !  " 

Meantime  she  made  no  answer  whatever,  and  the  dark- 
ness and  the  silence  and  the  obstinacy  of  the  girl  were 
driving  the  unfortunate  lover  to  a  kind  of  madness,  and  I 
know  not  what  would  have  happened. 

"  Molly,"  he  said,  "  willy  nilly,  down  you  come.  I  shall 
tear  down  the  thatch.  I  would  burn  you  out,  but  I  would 
not  spoil  your  beauty.  I  shall  tear  down  the  thatch,  and 
my  men  shall  carry  you  down." 

Then  Molly  made  answer. 

"  I  have  a  knife  in  my  possession.  Do  not  think  that  I 
am  afraid  to  use  it.  The  first  man  who  lays  hands  on  me 
I  will  kill — whether  it  is  you  or  your  servants." 

"  That  we  shall  see.  Look  ye,  Molly,  you  are  only  a 
merchant's  daughter,  and  I  am  a  gentleman.  Do  you  think 
I  value  that  compared  with  marrying  you  ?  Not  one  whit. 
When  we  are  married  I  will  buy  more  land ;  I  will  be  the 
greatest  landowner  of  the  whole  county.  Sir  Robert  will 
make  me  sheriff.  I  will  go  into  Parliament,  Molly  ;  he  will 
make  me  a  peer.  Come  down,  I  say." 


i94  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

But  she  spoke  no  more. 

Then  he  lost  control  of  himself,  and  for  a  while  stamped 
and  swore,  threatened  and  cursed.  "  You  will  have  it, 
then  ?  Here,  John,  go  and  look  for  a  ladder.  There's 
always  a  ladder  in  the  back  yard.  Put  it  up  against  the 
thatch.  Tear  it  down.  Make  a  hole  in  the  roof.  Tear 
off  the  whole  roof." 

The  man  propped  his  chair  pole  against  the  door,  and 
went  round  to  look  for  the  ladder  and  to  obey  orders. 

"So,"  Molly  told  me,  "I  was  besieged.  Mr.  Rising 
was  below,  but  I  had  my  knife,  and  he  was  afraid  to  ven- 
ture up  the  steps.  I  heard  the  men  clumping  about  outside. 
I  heard  them  plant  the  ladder  and  climb  up.  Now  a 
countryman  who  understands  a  thatch  is  able  to  tear  it  off 
very  quickly,  either  to  make  or  mend  a  hole,  or  to  tear 
down  the  roof  altogether.  And  I  feared  that  I  must  use 
my  knife  seriously.  Was  ever  woman  more  barbarously 
abused  ?  Well — I  waited.  By  the  quick  tearing  away  of 
the  straw  I  saw  that  the  fellow  on  the  ladder  knew  how  to 
thatch  a  rick  or  a  cottage.  In  a  few  minutes  there  would 
be  a  hole  big  enough  for  half-a-dozen  men  to  enter. 
Jack,"  her  cheek  flushed  and  her  eye  brightened.  "  God 
forgive  me !  But  I  made  up  my  mind  the  moment  that 
man  stepped  within  the  room  to  plunge  my  knife  into  his 
heart." 

If  a  woman's  honour  is  dearer  than  her  life,  then  surely 
it  is  more  precious  than  a  dozen  lives  of  those  who  would 
rob  her  of  that  treasure. 

However,  this  last  act  of  defence  was  not  necessary. 

u  Master,"  cried  the  postboy,  who  was  waiting  with  the 
chaise.  "  Master,  here  be  men  on  horseback  galloping.  I 
doubt  they  are  coming  after  the  lady." 

Tom  Rising  stepped  to  the  door  and  looked  down  the 
road.  The  day  was  already  beginning  to  break.  He  saw 
in  the  dim  light  a  company  of  horsemen  galloping  along 
the  road;  it  was  a  bad  road,  and  there  had  been  rain,  so 
that  the  horses  went  heavily.  They  were  very  near ;  in  a 
few  moments  they  would  be  upon  him.  He  looked  at  the 
chaise.  He  made  one  more  effort. 

u  Molly,"  he  said,  "  come  down  quick.  There  is  just 
time.  Let  us  have  no  more  fooling." 


THE  ABDUCTION  195 

Again  she  made  no  reply.  Knife  in  hand,  with  crimson 
cheek  and  set  lips,  she  watched  the  hole  in  the  thatch  and 
the  man  tearing  it  away. 

Tom  Rising  swore  again,  most  blasphemously.  Then, 
seeing  that  the  game  was  lost,  he  loosened  his  sword  in  its 
scabbard  and  stepped  into  the  middle  of  the  road. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

WHICH    WAY   TO    FOLLOW  ? 

I  MUST  admit  that  in  the  conduct  of  this  affair  Lord 
Fylingdale  showed  both  coolness  and  resolution. 

The  news  that  the  heiress  of  Lynn  had  been  abducted 
spread  immediately  through  the  rooms;  the  whole  company 
flocked  to  the  doors,  where  Lord  Fylingdale  stood,  calm 
and  without  passion,  while  beside  him  the  old  captain 
stamped  and  cursed  the  villains  unknown. 

He  called  Molly's  chairmen.  What  had  those  fellows 
seen  ?  They  said  that  they  were  waiting  by  order ;  that 
another  chair  stood  before  them  at  the  door,  the  bearers  of 
which  were  strangers  to  them,  a  fact  which  at  this  crowded 
season  occurred  constantly  ;  that  a  gentleman  whose  name 
they  knew  not,  but  whom  they  had  seen  in  the  streets  and 
at  the  assembly,  mostly  drunk,  had  come  out  hastily  and 
spoken  to  these  chairmen  ;  that  his  lordship  himself  had 
handed  the  lady  into  the  chair  and  closed  the  doors,  to  their 
astonishment,  because  they  were  themselves  waiting  for  the 
lady ;  and  that  the  chair  was  carried  off  instantly,  leaving 
them  in  bewilderment,  not  knowing  what  to  do. 

He  asked  them,  next,  for  a  closer  description  of  the 
gentleman.  He  was  young,  it  appeared ;  he  was  red  in  the 
face;  he  looked  masterful;  he  cursed  the  chairmen  in  a 
very  free  and  noble  manner;  one  of  the  chairmen  gave 
him  his  sword  to  wear,  which  is  not  permitted  in  the  as- 
sembly ;  he  was  swearing  all  the  time  as  if  in  great  wrath. 

"  My  lord,"  a  gentleman  interrupted,  "  the  description 
fits  Tom  Rising." 

"  Has  Mr.  Rising  been  seen  in  the  assembly  this 
evening  ? " 

"  He  was  not  only  here,  but  he  danced  with  the  lady." 

"  Is  he  here  now  ?  Let  some  one  look  for  Mr. 
Rising." 

There  was  no  need  to  look  for  him,  because  the  rooms 

196 


WHICH  WAY  TO  FOLLOW  ?  197 

— even  the  card  room — was  now  empty,  all  the  people 
being  crowded  about  the  doors. 

"  Where  does  he  lodge  ?  Let  some  one  go  to  his 
lodgings." 

"  With  submission,  my  lord,"  said  another.  "  It  is  not 
at  his  lodgings  that  he  will  be  found.  After  the  assembly, 
he  goes  to  the  l  Rose  Tavern,'  where  he  drinks  all  night." 

"  Let  some  one  go  to  the  l  Rose  Tavern/  then,  and 
quickly.  Captain  Crowle,  we  will  go  to  the  c  Crown ' 
while  inquiries  are  made.  Gentlemen,  there  is  great  sus- 
picion that  an  abominable  crime  hath  been  committed,  and 
that  this  young  lady  hath  been  forcibly  carried  away  for  the 
sake  of  her  fortune.  I  take  blame  to  myself  for  not  mak- 
ing sure  that  I  was  placing  her  in  her  own  chair.  This  is 
my  business.  But  I  ask  your  help  for  the  honour  of  the 
spa  and  the  company." 

A  dozen  gentlemen  stepped  forward  and  offered  their 
help  and  their  swords,  if  necessary.  Among  them  was 
Colonel  Lanyon. 

"  Come,  then.  Let  us  adjourn  to  the  l  Crown '  and 
make  inquiries.  Be  of  good  cheer,  captain.  We  will  find 
out  which  way  they  took.  If  they  have  nothing  but  the 
chair  to  carry  her  away  we  can  easily  catch  them  up." 

"  I  know  my  girl,"  said  the  captain.  "  It  is  not  one 
man  who  can  daunt  her,  nor  will  a  dozen  men  force  her  to 
marry  against  her  will.  If  they  try  there  will  be  murder." 

"If  we  cannot  find  the  way  they  took,  we  must  scour 
the  country." 

At  the  gates  of  the  garden  they  learned  that  the  keeper 
had  seen  the  chair  go  out,  and  observed  that  it  was  closely 
followed  by  a  gentleman  whom  he  could  only  describe  by 
his  height,  which  was  taller  than  the  average.  Now,  Tom 
Rising  was  six  feet  at  least. 

At  the  "  Crown,"  in  Lord  Fylingdale's  room,  they  held 
a  brief  consultation,  after  which  the  gentlemen  who  had 
volunteered  their  help  went  out  into  the  town  to  make 
inquiries. 

In  a  few  minutes  they  began  to  return.  It  was  ascer- 
tained that  Tom  Rising  was  not  at  his  lodging ;  nor  was 
he  at  the  "  Rose  Tavern  "  ;  nor  could  he  be  found  at  any 
of  the  taverns  used  by  gentlemen ;  this  strengthened  the 


198  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

suspicion  against  him.  Then  one  remembered  the  strange 
words  of  the  Tuesday  night,  in  which  Tom  Rising  had 
promised  his  friends  that  he  would,  before  the  week  was 
done,  be  the  richest  man  in  the  county ;  rich  enough  to 
play  with  them  until  he  had  stripped  every  man  as  bare  as 
Adam.  Those  words  were  taken  as  mere  drunken  ravings. 
But  now  they  seemed  to  have  had  a  meaning.  Where  was 
Tom  Rising  ? 

Another  discovery  was  that  of  the  two  men  belonging  to 
the  chair  in  which  Molly  was  carried  off.  They  were 
found  in  one  of  the  low  taverns  by  the  riverside,  drinking. 
One  of  them  was  already  too  far  gone  to  speak.  The 
other,  with  a  stronger  head,  was  able  to  give  information, 
which  he  was  quite  ready  to  do.  A  gentleman,  he  said, 
had  engaged  the  chair,  and  had  given  them  a  guinea  to 
drink  if  they  would  suffer  him  to  find  his  own  chairmen. 
His  description  of  the  gentleman  corresponded  with  that 
already  furnished.  He  spoke  of  a  tall  gentleman  with  a 
flushed  face  and  rough  manner  of  speech.  He  knew  noth- 
ing more,  except  that  two  men,  strangers  to  himself,  had 
taken  the  chair  and  carried  it  off. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  his  lordship,  "  there  can  be,  I  fear, 
no  doubt  the  abduction  of  Miss  Molly  has  been  designed 
and  attempted  by  Mr.  Rising.  Fortunately,  he  cannot 
have  gone  very  far.  It  remains  for  us  to  find  the  road 
which  he  has  taken." 

They  fell  to  considering  the  various  roads  which  lead  out 
of  the  town.  There  is  the  high  road  to  Ely,  Cambridge, 
and  London ;  but  to  carry  a  chair  with  an  unwilling  lady 
in  it  on  the  high  road,  frequented  by  night  as  well  as  by 
day  with  travellers  of  all  kinds  and  strings  of  pack  horses, 
would  be  ridiculous.  There  was  the  road  which  led  to  the 
villages  on  the  east  side  of  the  Wash ;  there  was  also  the 
road  to  S  waff  ham  and  Norwich  ;  another  was  also  the  road 
to  Hunstanton. 

"  I  am  of  opinion,"  said  one  of  the  gentlemen,  "  that 
he  has  fixed  on  some  lonely  place  not  far  from  Lynn, 
where  he  could  make  her  a  prisoner  until  she  complies  with 
his  purpose  and  consents  to  marry  him." 

Captain  Crowle  shook  his  head.  "  She  would  never 
consent,"  he  repeated.  "  My  girl  is  almost  as  strong  as 


WHICH  WAY  TO  FOLLOW  ?  199 

any  man,  and  quite  as  resolute.  There  will  be  murder  if 
this  villain  attempts  violence." 

Just  then  the  landlady  of  the  "  Crown  "  threw  open  the 
door  and  burst  in.  "  Oh,  gentlemen,  gentlemen  !  "  she 
cried,  "  I  have  found  out  where  they  are  gone.  Ride  after 
them.  Ride  after  them  quick,  before  worse  mischief  is 
done.  I  have  ordered  all  the  horses  in  the  stables  to  be 
saddled.  There  are  eight.  Quick !  gentlemen,  for  the 
love  of  the  Lord,  ride  after  them." 

"  Quick  !     Quick  !  "  said  his  lordship. 

"  Where  are  they  ?  Where  are  they  ?  "  The  captain 
sprang  up. 

"  They  are  on  their  way.     They  cannot  be  there  yet." 

"  But  where  ?     Where  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Rising  ordered  a  post-chaise  to  wait  for  him  at  ten 
o'clock." 

"  He  left  the  gardens,"  said  his  lordship,  "  about  that 
time.  Go  on." 

u  He  ordered  it  at  the  Duke's  Head.  The  postboy  told 
the  ostler  his  orders.  He  was  to  wait  for  Mr.  Rising  at 
4  The  Travellers'  Rest,'  at  Riffley  Spring,  on  the  way  to 
Wootton." 

" l  The  Travellers'  Rest '  ?  What  kind  of  place  is 
that  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  bad  place,  my  lord — a  villainous  place— on  a 
lonely  road  up  and  down  which  there  is  little  travelling. 
It  is  a  resort  of  pedlars,  tinkers,  and  the  like — gipsies, 
vagabonds,  footpads,  and  rogues.  It  is  no  place  for  a 
young  lady." 

"  It  is  not,  indeed,"  said  one  of  the  gentlemen. 

"  Gentlemen,"  the  landlady  repeated,  u  ride  after  him  ! 
Ride  after  them  !  Oh  !  the  sweet  Miss  Molly  !  " 

"  Are  the  horses  ready  ?  " 

"  They  will  be  ready  in  a  minute." 

"  Gentlemen,  there  are,  you  hear,  eight  horses.  Captain 
Crowle  will  take  one,  I  will  take  another.  The  remaining 
six  are  at  your  disposal.  I  shall  feel  honoured  if  you  will 
accompany  me  ;  but  on  one  condition,  if  you  will  allow 
me  to  make  a  condition.  The  man  will  fight,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"Tom  Rising,"  one  of  them  replied,  "would  fight  the 
devil." 


200  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  One  could  desire  nothing  better.  The  condition  is 
that  when  we  overtake  Mr.  Rising  you  will  leave  him  to 
me.  That  is  understood  ?  " 

"  My  lord,  we  cannot,  by  your  leave,  allow  your  valu- 
able life  to  be  at  the  hazard  of  a  duel  with  a  man  both 
desperate  and  reckless." 

"  I  shall  take  care  of  myself,  I  assure  you.  Meantime, 
if  I  fall  I  name  Colonel  Lanyon  to  succeed  me,  and  after 
him,  should  he,  too,  unhappily  fall,  you  will  yourselves 
name  his  successor.  Gentlemen,  we  must  rescue  the  lady 
and  we  must  punish  the  abductor.  I  hear  the  horses. 
Come." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE    PUNISHMENT 

THE  postboy,  foreseeing  events  which  might  require  a 
clear  stage,  warily  drew  his  chaise  off  the  road,  which  here 
widened  into  a  small  area  trodden  flat  by  many  feet,  into 
the  grassy  field  at  the  side,  and  stood  at  his  horses'  heads  in 
readiness. 

The  men  on  the  ladder,  who  were  pulling  away  at  the 
thatch  with  zeal,  stopped  their  work.  "  What's  that, 
George  ? "  asked  one.  "  Seems  like  horses.  They're 
coming  after  the  young  lady,  likely ;  "  so  he  slid  down  the 
ladder  followed  by  the  other,  and  they  ran  round  to  the 
front,  seizing  their  poles  in  case  of  need.  At  elections, 
and  on  the  occasion  of  a  street  fight,  the  chairman's  pole 
has  often  proved  a  very  efficient  weapon.  Handled  with 
dexterity  it  is  like  a  quarter  staff",  but  heavier,  and  will  not 
only  stun  a  man,  but  will  brain  him,  or  break  arm,  leg,  or 
ribs  for  him. 

"  For  my  part,"  Molly  told  me,  "  I  saw  them  suddenly 
desist  from  their  work,  though  in  a  few  minutes  the  hole  in 
the  thatch  would  have  been  large  enough  to  admit  of  a  man's 
passing  through.  I  was  waiting  within,  knife  in  hand.  Do 
you  think  I  would  have  suffered  one  of  those  fellows  to  lay 
hand  upon  me  ?  Well,  in  the  midst  of  their  work  they 
stopped,  they  listened,  and  they  stepped  down  the  ladder. 
What  did  this  mean  ?  There  was  no  window  to  the  loft 
except  a  single  frame  with  half-a-dozen  small  diamond 
shaped  panes  too  high  up  to  serve  any  purpose  except  to 
admit  a  little  light.  I  put  my  head  through  the  hole  in  the 
thatch.  And  I  heard — imagine  my  joy — the  clatter  of 
horses  and  the  voices  of  the  horsemen.  And  then  I  knew, 
and  was  quite  certain,  that  my  rescue  had  arrived.  4  Jack,' 
I  said  to  myself,  *  has  found  out  the  way  taken  by  this 
villain,  and  is  riding  after  him.' ' 

Alas !  I,  who  should  have  been  riding  in  the  front  of 

201 


202  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

all,  was  at  that  moment  unconsciously  sleeping  in  my  bunk 
aboard  The  Lady  of  Lynn. 

"I  thought  that  at  such  a  moment  Mr.  Rising  would  be 
wholly  occupied  with  defending  himself.  I  therefore  with- 
drew the  boards  from  the  top  of  the  stair  and  looked  down. 
No  one  was  in  the  room  below,  that  I  could  see.  I 
cautiously  descended.  In  the  corner  of  the  settle  by  the 
fireplace  there  was  the  old  woman  of  the  house. 

"'They  are  coming  after  you,  Missy/  she  said.  'I 
knew  how  it  would  end.  I  warned  him.  I  told  him  that 
everything  was  against  it.  I  read  his  luck  by  the  cards  and 
by  the  magpies,  and  by  the  swallows.  Everything  was 
against  it.  They  are  coming.  Hark !  They  are  very 
close  now,  and  they  will  kill  him  ! ' 

"  I  ran  to  the  open  door.  Mr.  Rising  was  in  the  middle 
of  the  road  without  his  hat,  his  sword  in  his  hand;  behind 
him  stood  his  chairmen.  He  was  not  going  to  give  me  up 
without  a  fight.  The  postboy  had  drawn  the  chaise  into 
the  field,  and  the  sedan  chair  was  standing  beside  it.  And 
down  the  road,  only  a  little  way  off",  I  saw,  in  the  growing 
light  of  daybreak,  Lord  Fylingdale  leading,  the  captain  be- 
side him,  and  half-a-dozen  gentlemen  following,  all  on 
horseback." 

"  There  she  is !  There  is  Molly  !  "  cried  the  captain. 
"  What  cheer,  lass  ?  What  cheer  ?  " 

Lord  Fylingdale  held  up  his  hand.  The  whole  party 
drew  rein  and  halted.  Then  their  leader  dismounted. 
They  were  now  about  twenty  yards  from  the  men.  He 
threw  his  reins  to  the  nearest  of  the  little  troop.  "  Gen- 
tlemen," he  said,  "  we  must  proceed  with  this  business 
without  hurry  or  bluster,  or  threats.  Mr.  Rising  will,  per- 
haps, threaten  and  bluster.  We  are  here  to  rescue  a  lady 
and  to  punish  a  villain.  Let  both  be  done  without  the  ap- 
pearance of  wrath  or  revenge.  Captain  Crowle,  do  not 
dismount,  I  entreat  you,  until  the  conclusion  of  the  next 
act.  Miss  Molly  is,  as  you  see,  apparently  safe  and  un- 
hurt." 

They  obeyed. 

"  I  shall  now  measure  swords  with  the  young  gentleman 
who  thinks  that  he  can  carry  off  heiresses  with  impunity. 
I  would  advise  you  to  advance  a  little  closer  to  the  house. 


THE   PUNISHMENT  203 

He  must  understand  that  punishment  awaits  him,  if  not 
from  me,  then  from  some  other  of  this  company." 

"  Look  at  Tom,"  said  one  of  them.  "  His  blood  is  up. 
He  is  now  all  for  righting.  He  means  mischief,  if  ever  he  has 
meant  mischief.  I  remember  at  Swaffham  when  he  fought 
the  young  squire  of  Headingley.  That  was  about  a  girl, 
too.  A  mere  worthless  drab  of  a  tavern  servant.  Tom 
broke  down  the  man's  guard  and  ran  him  through  in  half  a 
minute.  I  wish  we  were  well  out  of  this  job." 

Tom  stood  in  the  road,  as  I  have  said,  his  sword  in  his 
hand,  his  hat  lying  on  the  ground  before  him.  If  flaming 
cheeks  and  eyes  as  fiery  as  those  of  a  bull  brought  to  bay 
mean  mischief,  then  Tom's  intention  was  murderous. 

"  To  thwart  Tom  in  anything,"  the  gentleman  went  on, 
"  is  dangerous  ;  but  to  take  away  his  girl — and  such  a  girl 
— to  rob  him  of  that  great  fortune  just  at  the  moment  of 
success — would  madden  the  mildest  of  men.  He  looks 
like  a  madman.  Should  one  warn  his  lordship  ?  And  he 
has  got  two  chairmen  with  their  poles  in  readiness.  We 
should  ride  in  upon  them  before  they  can  do  any  mischief." 
So  they  whispered. 

Said  Captain  Crowle :  "  Kill  him,  my  lord ;  kill  the 
villain.  Kill  him." 

"  Let  me  warn  your  lordship,"  said  the  gentleman  who 
had  last  spoken,  "his  method  will  be  a  fierce  attack;  he 
will  try  to  break  down  your  guard." 

"  I  know  that  method,"  Lord  Fylingdale  replied,  coldly. 
Then  he  stepped  forward  and  took  off  his  hat.  "  Mr. 
Rising,"  he  said,  "  this  affair  might  very  well  be  settled  by 
two  or  three  sailors  or  common  porters.  We  are  willing, 
however,  to  treat  you  as  a  gentleman,  which,  sir,  you  no 
longer  deserve." 

"  Go  on,  go  on,"  said  Tom.  "  'Twill  be  all  the  same  in 
five  minutes." 

"  I  am  therefore  going  to  do  you  the  honour  of  fighting 
you." 

"  I  shall  show  you  how  I  appreciate  that  honour.  Stop 
talking,  man,  and  begin." 

"  I  must,  however,  warn  you  that  if  you  are  to  fight  as 
a  gentleman  you  must  try  to  behave  as  one,  for  this  oc- 
casion only.  Should  you  attempt  any  kind  of  treachery 


204  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

my  friends  will  interfere.  In  that  case  you  will  certainly 
not  leave  the  field  alive." 

"  What  do  you  want  then  ?  " 

"  You  must  send  away  those  two  hulking  fellows  behind 
you.  I  am  willing  to  fight  you  with  swords,  but  I  am  not 
going  to  fight  your  lackeys  with  clubs." 

Tom  turned  round.  "  Here,  you  fellows,  get  off.  Go 
and  stand  beside  the  chair.  Whatever  happens  don't  in- 
terfere. Well,  my  lord,  the  sooner  this  comes  off  the 
better." 

He  laid  down  his  sword  and  took  off  coat  and  waist- 
coat, turning  up  the  sleeve  of  his  right  arm.  Then  he 
turned  to  Molly  and  saluted  her.  "  Mistress  Molly,"  he 
said,  with  a  grin,  "  you  are  going  to  have  a  very  fine  sight. 
Perhaps,  when  it  is  over  you  will  be  sorry  for  your  shilly- 
shally stand  off — no,  I  won't  say  it.  You're  not  worth 
carrying  off.  If  I'd  known.  Now,  my  lord." 

Lord  Fylingdale  had  also  removed  his  coat  and  waistcoat, 
and  now  stood  in  his  shirt,  with  the  sleeves  rolled  up,  hat- 
less. 

Just  at  that  moment  the  sun  rose  swiftly,  as  is  his  man- 
ner in  this  flat  country.  It  was  as  if  the  sky  had  leaped 
into  light  in  order  to  give  these  swordsmen  a  clearer  view 
of  each  other.  They  were  a  strange  contrast.  Molly's 
champion  erect,  pale,  and  calm ;  his  adversary  bent,  as  if 
with  passion,  grasping  his  sword  with  eager  hand. 

"  He  means  mischief,"  repeated  the  gentlemen  of  the 
troop.  "  I  would  this  business  was  ended.  I  wonder  if 
the  noble  lord  can  fight.  He  does  not  look  afraid,  any- 
how." 

u  He  looks  as  if  he  could  feel  neither  fear  nor  anger,  nor 
love,  nor  any  passion  at  all.  He  is  an  iceberg.  Ha !  they 
are  beginning." 

They  faced  each  other. 

The  swords  crossed.  "  Look  to  yourself,"  said  Tom. 
"  I  will  spit  you  like  a  pigeon." 

He  stamped  and  lunged.  The  thrust  was  parried,  easily 
and  lightly.  Tom  lunged  again,  and  again,  with  a  slight 
turn  of  the  wrist,  the  thrust  was  parried.  But  as  yet  Lord 
Fylingdale  seemed  to  stand  on  the  defensive. 

"  He  knows  how  to  fence,"  they  whispered.     "  See  !  he 


THE   PUNISHMENT  205 

means  to  tire  his  adversary.  He  parries  everything.  Tom 
thrusts  like  a  madman.  Why,  he  exposes  himself  at  every 
lunge.  See  !  he  has  lost  his  head.  One  would  think  he  was 
righting  with  an  automaton  who  could  only  parry." 

At  the  door  stood  the  object  and  cause  of  the  encounter, 
the  girl,  namely,  who  had  brought  all  this  trouble  upon  Tom 
Rising's  head.  She  stood  motionless,  hardly  breathing,  watch- 
ing the  duel,  as  they  say  the  Roman  women  used  to  watch 
the  fight  of  the  gladiators  in  the  amphitheatre,  and  as  I  have 
seen  the  Spanish  women  watch  the  men  who  fight  the  bull 
in  their  circus.  I  believe  that  women,  in  spite  of  their 
tender  hearts,  are  carried  away  out  of  themselves  by  the  sight 
of  mere  fighting.  It  is  a  spectacle  which  they  cannot  choose 
but  gaze  upon ;  it  shows  the  true  nature  of  man  as  opposed 
to  that  of  woman.  He  stands  up  and  risks  his  life,  trusting 
sometimes  to  his  skill,  as  in  a  duel  with  swords,  and  some- 
times to  chance,  as  on  a  battlefield  where  the  bullets  are  flying. 
Molly,  therefore,  watched  the  fight  with  gleaming  eyes  and 
parted  lips.  She  was  almost  ready  to  forgive  the  man  who 
had  attempted  this  injury  for  the  sake  of  his  courage,  and 
she  could  not  sufficiently  admire  his  adversary  for  the 
cold  and  impassive  way  in  which  he  met  every  furious 
attack,  just  with  a  simple  turn  of  the  wrist,  as  it  seemed  to 
her. 

Tom  was  a  strong  and  lusty  fellow,  and  he  could  fight  after 
his  fashion,  which  was  with  thrust  upon  thrust,  fast  and  fu- 
rious, as  if  reckless  of  himself,  so  that  he  could  engage  his 
adversary  wholly  in  defence  until  he  found  a  moment  of 
weakness. 

He  had  fought  many  times,  and  hitherto  without  a 
scratch  or  a  wound,  the  fight  always  ending  with  his  adver- 
sary lying  prostrate  before  him.  On  this  occasion,  how- 
ever, he  found  that  every  thrust  was  parried ;  that  his 
adversary  yielded  not  so  much  as  an  inch  of  ground,  and 
that  he  had  to  do  with  a  wrist  of  iron  and  the  eye  of  a 
hawk. 

"Jack!"  said  Molly.  "I  hope  that  I  desired  not  the 
death  of  the  young  man.  But  I  did  desire  his  defeat.  It  was 
splendid  to  see  him  stamping  on  the  ground  and  attacking 
like  lightning.  But  it  was  more  splendid  to  see  his  adversary 
immovable.  He  stood  like  a  rock  j  he  showed  neither 


206  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

passion  nor  excitement.  He  parried  every  thrust  with  just 
a  turn  of  his  wrist." 

The  gentlemen  on  horseback  closed  in  and  looked  on 
holding  their  breath.  There  was  no  longer  any  fear  on  ac- 
count of  their  champion.  For  the  first  time  in  their  lives 
they  saw  as  fine  a  master  of  fence  as  ever  came  out  of  the 
schools  of  Paris.  Meantime,  the  other  man  was  as  one 
maddened.  He  drew  back;  he  roared  like  a  bull;  he 
rushed  upon  his  enemy  ;  he  panted  and  gasped ;  but  he  con- 
tinued the  fight  undaunted. 

Suddenly,  his  sword  flew  out  of  his  hand,  and  fell  in  the 
field  beside  the  chaise. 

"  Pick  up  your  master's  sword,"  Lord  Fylingdale  ordered 
the  chairmen. 

The  spectators  looked  to  see  Tom  run  through  on  the 
spot.  On  the  contrary,  Lord  Fylingdale  remained  in  his 
attitude  of  defence ;  he  was  playing  with  his  enemy.  "  Take 
your  sword,"  he  said.  "You  are  at  my  mercy.  But  take 
your  sword,  man;  we  have  only  just  begun." 

Tom  received  his  sword,  and  wiped  off  the  mud  upon 
his  shirt.  Then  he  renewed  the  attack ;  but  it  was  with 
less  confidence.  That  one  should  refuse  to  finish  the  duel 
when  he  had  disarmed  his  adversary  was  a  thing  beyond  his 
experience. 

"  Tom  is  dashed,"  said  one  of  the  company.  "  It  is  all 
over  with  Tom." 

It  was.  After  a  few  more  lunges,  parried  with  the  same 
quiet  skill  and  calmness  of  manner,  Tom's  sword  once  more 
flew  out  of  his  hand.  Then  the  duel  was  over,  for  Lord 
Fylingdale  made  one  thrust  and  his  sword  passed  clean 
through  the  right  arm  at  the  shoulder,  passing  out  at  the 
other  side.  Tom  reeled ;  one  of  his  chairmen  ran  to  his 
help,  and  he  fell  upon  the  ground,  fainting  in  a  small  pool 
of  blood. 

Lord  Fylingdale  paid  no  attention  to  him.  He  wiped  his 
sword  on  the  grass,  replaced  it  in  the  scabbard,  and  put  on 
his  coat  and  waistcoat.  This  done,  he  advanced  to  Molly. 

"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  we  are  fortunate,  indeed,  in  being 
able  to  effect  a  rescue.  This  is  not  a  place  for  a  lady,  nor 
is  this  a  sight  that  one  would  willingly  offer  you.  I  trust 
that  JDO  violence  has  been  used." 


THE   PUNISHMENT  207 

"  I  thank  your  lordship.  It  was  a  horrid  sight.  Oh  !  do 
not  let  the  poor  man  die.  He  is  a  villain,  but  he  has  failed. 
Be  merciful." 

Then  the  captain  came  running  up.  "  Molly ! "  he 
cried,  with  the  tears  running  down  his  face.  "  Molly  !  We 
are  not  too  late  ?  They  haven't  married  you  ?  The  villain 
is  paid.  He  is  paid,  I  take  it.  He  hasn't  married  you  yet  ? 
By  the  Lord,  if  he  has  I  will  brain  him  with  my  cudgel,  so 
you  shall  be  a  widow  as  soon  as  a  wife." 

"  Captain,  can  you  ask  me  ?  The  man  had  a  chaise 
waiting  here  and  would  have  forced  me  into  it ;  but  I  ran 
into  the  house,  and  so  to  the  upper  floor,  whither  he  could  not 
follow.  He  set  his  men  to  pull  off  the  thatch.  What  he 
would  have  done  next  I  know  not.  But  I  could  defend 
myself." 

"  What  is  that  in  your  hand,  Molly  ?  " 

It  was  the  knife,  which  she  still  held  in  readiness.  She 
threw  it  away.  "I  shall  not  need  it  now,"  she  said. 
"  What  do  you  think  I  should  have  done  with  it  ?  " 

"  Molly,  I  know  what  you  would  have  done.  I  said 
that  there  was  no  man  in  England  who  could  marry  you 
against  your  will.  It  was  his  heart  and  not  his  shoulder 
that  would  have  received  the  knife.  My  dear,  I  knew  my 
Molly.  I  knew  my  girl." 

Then  the  other  gentlemen  crowded  round,  offering  their 
congratulations,  no  one  taking  the  least  notice  of  the  un- 
lucky Tom,  who  still  lay  pale  and  bleeding  on  the  ground. 

It  was  Lord  Fylingdale  who  came  to  his  assistance. 
"  Here,  fellows,"  he  ordered  the  chairmen,  "  take  up  your 
master  and  put  him  in  the  chaise — so.  And  as  for  you," 
he  addressed  the  postboy,  "  here  is  a  guinea.  Drive  as  fast 
as  you  can  back  to  Lynn.  Put  him  to  bed  in  his  lodgings 
and  send  for  a  surgeon  or  a  wise  woman,  or  some  one  to 
look  after  the  wound." 

"  Will  he  die  ?  "  asked  one  of  the  bystanders. 

"  I  should  think  it  not  unlikely.  His  wound  is  danger- 
ous, and  if  I  know  anything  about  a  man  from  his  appear- 
ance I  should  say  that  he  would  be  inclined  to  fever.  But 
we  are  not  concerned  with  his  fate.  Whether  he  dies  or 
lives,  he  has  attempted  a  villainous  act  and  has  met  with  a 
fitting  punishment." 


2o8  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

The  carriage,  with  the  wounded  man  in  it,  went  rattling 
along  the  road,  the  jerks  and  bumps  among  the  ruts  being 
enough  to  keep  the  wound  open  and  the  blood  flowing. 

Then  Lord  Fylingdale  called  the  chairmen.  "  Who 
are  you  ? "  he  asked.  "  Do  you  belong  to  the  town  of 
Lynn  ?  " 

They  looked  at  each  other.  Then  one  said,  "  No ;  we  be 
from  Swaffham.  Squire  Rising  sent  for  us  to  do  his  job." 

"  Put  in  your  poles.  You  must  now  carry  the  lady 
back." 

"We  have  done  our  work,"  said  his  lordship.  "It  re- 
mains for  us  to  escort  Miss  Molly  home  again.  Madam, 
you  can  leave  this  foul  den  with  the  consciousness  that  you 
are  avenged." 

"  Indeed,  I  want  no  revenge." 

"Justice  has  been  done.  Justice  is  not  revenge.  You 
can  now,  madam,  go  back  in  the  chair  in  which  you  were 
brought  here.  The  villain  who  made  the  attempt  is  al- 
ready on  his  way  back.  Since  you  desire  mercy  rather 
than  revenge  we  must  hope  that  his  wound  is  not  fatal." 

So  Molly  reentered  the  chair.  Then  she  was  brought 
home  in  triumph.  The  captain  rode  on  one  side;  her 
champion  on  the  other ;  before  and  behind  her  rode  her 
mounted  escort.  If  she  had  been  a  queen  they  could  not 
have  shown  her  greater  deference  and  respect. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

A    GRATEFUL    MIND 

THE  news  of  the  abduction,  you  may  be  sure,  formed, 
next  day,  the  only  topic  of  talk  in  the  pump  room  and  the 
gardens.  There  are  many  rumours  and  reports.  Mr.  Ris- 
ing was  allowed  to  be  a  villain  of  the  deepest  dye.  He 
was  also  allowed  to  be  a  gentleman  of  the  greatest  courage 
and  resolution.  The  duel  was  described  with  such  em- 
broideries and  additions  as  the  feminine  imagination  could 
invent.  Lord  Fylingdale  was  desperately  wounded ;  no, 
only  slightly  wounded ;  no,  he  was  not  touched.  Mr. 
Rising  was  brought  home  dead,  in  a  pool  of  blood ;  no,  he 
was  wounded  and  not  expected  to  live ;  and  so  on.  He 
lay,  indeed,  at  his  lodgings  in  a  fever,  which  held  him  for 
some  days ;  but  being  young  and  strong,  and  in  good 
health,  except  that  his  habit  of  drinking  had  inflamed  his 
blood,  he  recovered,  and,  as  you  shall  presently  learn,  es- 
caped from  certain  toils  and  snares  that  had  been  laid  with 
skill,  and  were  promising  success. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  opinion  of  the  ladies  remained 
adverse  to  Molly.  It  was  universally  acknowledged  that 
she  was  a  forward  minx ;  that  she  ought  to  have  known 
her  place ;  that,  had  she  not  given  encouragement,  Mr. 
Rising  could  never  have  attempted  his  rash  adventure. 
"  She  wants  to  marry  a  gentleman.  Naturally  ;  she  thinks 
that  money  will  buy  anything.  What  is  the  good  of  hav- 
ing all  these  fine  things — if,  indeed,  they  are  hers — if  she  is 
to  marry  in  her  own  class,  a  quill  driver,  a  shopkeeper,  a 
tarpauling  ?  As  everybody  knows,  Mr.  Rising  is  a  gentle- 
man of  good  family  and  good  estate ;  could  she  look 
higher?  She  ought  to  fell  honoured  at  being  carried  away 
by  a  gentleman.  As  for  any  rumour,  connecting  her  with 
Lord  Fylingdale,  one  would  be  sorry  for  the  poor  wench  if 
that  was  true,  because  nothing  could  be  more  impossible. 
Yet  the  ambition  of  a  girl  ignorant  of  the  world  may  soar 

209 


210  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

to  heights  incredible,  like  the  soap  bubble,  only  to  burst,  or 
the  sky-rocket,  only  to  fall  ignobly  to  the  ground.  It  is 
not  likely  that  his  lordship,  said  to  be  so  fastidious,  would 
bestow  a  serious  thought  upon  the  girl,  save  as  representing 
the  town  of  Lynn."  And  so  on  .  .  .  with  whispers 
from  one  to  the  other  at  morning  prayers,  and  louder  talk 
in  the  pump  room,  and  at  the  confectioner's  and  in  the 
gardens. 

Meantime,  the  captain  made  haste  to  wait  upon  his  lord- 
ship, in  order  to  thank  him  more  formally  than  in  the  tur- 
moil and  agitation  of  the  evening  had  been  possible. 

u  Captain  Crowle,"  said  his  lordship,  "  there  needs  no 
thanks.  The  honour  of  the  spa — of  the  company — was  at 
stake.  Could  we  look  on  unmoved  when  such  a  crime 
was  committed  under  our  very  eyes  ?  Sir,  there  were  with 
me,  as  you  saw,  half-a-dozen  gallant  gentlemen,  all  pledged 
to  take  my  place  should  I  fall.  Their  swords  were  as 
much  at  the  service  of  insulted  virtue  as  my  owm" 

"  You  fought  a  desperate  man,  my  lord.  Had  you  lost 
hand  or  eye  for  a  moment,  you  would  now  be  dead." 

"  Captain,  I  do  not  lose  my  eye  nor  my  hand.  Never- 
theless, to  die  for  the  honour  of  such  a  woman  as  Miss 
Molly  should  be  happiness  enough  for  any  man." 

Said  I  not  that  the  abduction  was  the  very  best  thing 
that  could  possibly  happen  to  Lord  Fylingdale  ?  Whether 
he  understood  the  captain's  ambitions  as  regards  himself,  or 
not,  I  cannot  say.  We  know,  however,  that  the  old  man 
aimed  at  nothing  short  of  a  great  alliance  for  his  ward,  a 
dream  that  was  justified  by  the  noble  fortune  which  would 
go  with  her.  Lord  Fylingdale  knew,  besides,  that  he  him- 
self had  made  a  most  favourable  impression  upon  this 
simple  sailor,  who  believed  everything  that  he  was  told. 
And  now,  by  the  rescue  of  the  girl,  he  had  not  only  raised 
himself  still  higher  in  the  estimation  of  the  captain,  but  he 
stood  before  Molly  as  a  hero  and  a  fearless  avenger  of  in- 
sult and  violence.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  for- 
tunate. 

"  Sir,"  he  added,  "  if  you  will  carry  me  to  Miss  Molly 
herself,  I  would  offer  her  my  congratulations  on  the  happy 
ending  of  her  adventure.  She  is  perhaps  overcome  by  the 
terrors  of  the  night." 


A  GRATEFUL  MIND  211 

"  Molly  felt  no  terrors.  She  had  a  knife  in  her  hand 
which  might  have  proved  more  formidable  to  the  young 
man  than  your  lordship's  sword.  But  if  you  will  honour 
my  humble  house,  both  Molly  and  I  shall  be  still  more 
grateful." 

Molly  was  in  the  kitchen  making  a  beefsteak  pie,  with 
her  sleeves  rolled  up  and  her  apron  on.  "  Shall  I  go  to  my 
lord  as  I  am  ?  "  she  said.  "  Let  me  wash  my  hands  and 
roll  down  the  sleeves  at  least." 

She  presented  herself,  therefore,  in  her  plain  morning 
dress,  that  in  which  she  performed  her  domestic  work. 
Perhaps  she  showed  to  greater  advantage  thus  than  in  her 
silks  and  jewels. 

"  Miss  Molly,  your  obedient  servant."  His  lordship 
bowed  as  low  as  if  he  was  addressing  a  countess  at  least. 
u  I  have  ventured  to  inquire  after  your  health.  Last  night's 
adventure  may  have  proved  too  great  a  shock." 

"  I  am  quite  well,  my  lord,  thanks  to  your  bravery  and 
your  generosity,  which  I  can  never  forget — never — not  even 
if  I  wished  to  forget." 

"  Never,"  said  the  captain. 

"  Whenever  I  hear  of  a  brave  man  I  shall  think  of  your 
lordship,  and  whenever  I  think  of  a  gallant  fight,  it  will  be 
your  lordship  fighting." 

"  You  think  too  highly  of  a  simple  affair,  Miss  Molly. 
Nevertheless,  I  am  proud  to  have  been  of  service  to  you." 

"  At  least  we  must  continue  grateful,  because  we  have 
nothing  that  we  can  do  in  return." 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that."  He  smiled  kindly.  "  We 
shall  see.  Meantime,  Miss  Molly,  there  is  one  thing  which 
you  might  do  to  please  me." 

"  Oh,  what  is  that  ?  " 

"You  wore  at  your  first  appearance  a  large  quantity  of 
gold  chains  and  precious  stones.  I  am  curious  about  such 
gauds.  Will  you  allow  me  to  see  your  treasures  ? " 

It  was  an  unexpected  favour  to  ask.  Molly  laughed, 
however,  and  ran  to  fetch  the  box.  She  poured  out  the 
whole  of  the  glittering  contents  upon  the  table.  "  There, 
my  lord,  and  if  I  could  venture  to  offer  any  of  these  things 
that  would  please  you." 

He    laughed.     "  You   are   kindness  itself,  Miss    Molly. 


212  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

But  I  am  not  a  lady,  and  jewels  are  of  no  use  to  me.  I 
have,  however,  at  my  poor  house  in  Gloucestershire,  my 
family  jewels.  Let  me  look  at  yours." 

He  sat  down  and  began  to  examine  them  closely.  Ap- 
parently he  understood  jewels.  It  was  as  if  he  apprised 
their  value.  He  placed  some  on  one  side;  some  on  the 
other.  "  This,"  he  said,  "  is  a  diamond  of  the  first  water. 
Keep  it  very  carefully.  This  has  a  slight  flaw,  yet,  with 
more  careful  cutting,  it  might  become  a  valuable  stone. 
This  chain  is  fashioned  by  an  Indian  workman.  None  but 
an  Indian  can  make  a  chain  so  fine  and  so  delicate.  See, 
it  is  no  thicker  than  a  piece  of  twine,  and  yet  how  careful 
and  how  intricate  the  workmanship  !  The  man's  fingers 
must  have  been  more  delicate  than  our  craftsmen  can 
imagine."  And  so  on  through  the  whole  of  the  treasure. 
"  Well,  Miss  Molly,"  he  said,  "  there  are  few  ladies,  in- 
deed, even  of  the  highest  rank,  who  can  show  so  good  a 
collection.  I  congratulate  you  with  all  my  heart.  Some 
day,  I  hope  to  see  you  at  court  wearing  these  jewels  and 
bearing — who  knows  ? — a  name  as  honourable  as  these  are 
precious." 

"Your  lordship  always  encourages,"  said  the  captain. 
"  You  hear,  Molly  ?  At  court  and  bearing  an  honourable 
name." 

She  blushed  and  gathered  up  her  treasures. 

Her  visitor  looked  round  the  room.  It  was  the  parlour. 
The  homely  appearance  of  the  room,  plainly  furnished,  as 
might  be  expected  of  a  man  in  the  captain's  position,  was 
strangely  inconsistent  with  the  mass  of  treasure  which  he 
had  just  examined.  The  plain  linsey  woolsey  of  the  girl 
who  owned  the  treasure  was  also  out  of  proportion,  so  to 
speak,  for  he  understood  that  this  glittering  pile  of  jewels 
represented  a  vast  sum  of  money,  and  that  the  girl  was  far 
richer  than  the  poet  knew  or  even  the  captain  guessed.  At 
the  mere  thought  of  getting  possession  of  this  treasure  his 
blood  quickened  j  but  he  remained,  to  all  appearance,  save 
for  a  slight  and  unwonted  colour  in  his  cheek,  unmoved. 
I  have  never  heard,  nor  can  I  guess,  the  value  of  these 
jewels,  save  that  they  were  worth  many  thousands. 

"  These  jewels,"  he  said,  coldly,  "  should  belong  to  a 
great  lady.  They  deserve  to  be  seen.  They  are  thrown 


A  GRATEFUL  MIND  213 

away,  save  as  portable  property,  unless  they  can  be  used  to 
grace  the  court.  However,  ...  let  me  hope  that  they 
will  not  be  thrown  away.  I  think,  Miss  Molly,  that  your 
mother  lives  with  you  in  this  house.  Perhaps  this  treasure 
is  hers — or  is  it  all  your  own  ? " 

The  captain  made  answer.  "  Molly's  mother  has  no 
share.  A  modest  sum  of  money,  sufficient  for  her  needs, 
is  paid  her  out  of  the  estate.  The  rest — all  the  rest  be- 
longs to  Molly." 

"  Truly  she  is  first  favourite  with  Dame  Fortune,  who, 
I  hope,  will  not  turn  her  wheel.  Miss  Molly,  will  you 
present  me  to  madam,  your  mother  ?  " 

"  With  all  my  heart ;  but  my  lord,  my  mother  is  not 
used  to  being  called  madam."  So  saying,  Molly  retired  to 
the  kitchen,  and  presently  returned,  bringing  her  mother 
with  her.  She  came  in  red  faced  from  stooping  over  the 
kitchen  fire,  wiping  her  fingers,  which  she  had  hurriedly 
washed,  on  her  apron,  wearing  at  her  side  her  great  house- 
keeper's pocket,  in  which  she  carried  a  vast  quantity  of 
things  necessary,  useful,  and  handy,  such  as  scissors,  pins, 
a  needle-case,  the  nutmeg  grater,  a  corkscrew,  a  few 
weights,  a  thread  paper,  a  yard  measure,  stockings  to  be 
darned,  a  ball  of  twine,  a  skein  or  two  of  silk,  ends  of 
ribbon,  fragments  and  rags  of  cloth,  lint  for  wounds,  a  box 
of  goose  fat  for  ointment,  and  many  other  articles  indis- 
pensable for  the  complete  housewife.  Jennifer  Miller, 
Molly's  mother,  was  indeed  a  homely  body,  low  in  stature, 
inclined  to  stoutness,  somewhat  short  of  breath,  and,  in 
appearance,  exactly  what  she  was  in  fact,  namely,  a  woman 
whose  whole  delight  and  study  was  in  housewifery.  When 
she  was  young  I  have  heard  that  she  possessed  some  share 
of  beauty,  as  a  rosy  cheek,  red  lips,  bright  eyes,  and  so 
forth.  But  her  daughter  took  after  the  father,  who  was  a 
tall  and  proper  man,  as  those  testify  who  knew  him. 

His  lordship  treated  her  with  the  respect  due  to  a  great 
lady,  bowing  as  low  to  her  as  he  had  done  to  Molly. 

"  Madam,  I  come  to  congratulate  you  on  the  escape  of 
your  daughter.  'Twas  providential." 

"  With  your  help,  sir.  Oh !  I  know  a  gentleman's 
modesty.  Well,  sir — my  lord,  I  mean — we  are  humble 
folk,  but  I  hope  we  know  how  to  be  grateful.  I  said  to 


214  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Molly  this  morning :  c  Look  out,'  I  said,  c  among  your  fine 
trinkets  the  very  finest  thing  you've  got,  and  take  it  your- 
self with  your  humble  respects  to  his  lordship,'  and  I  would 
have  sent  with  it  some  of  my  last  year's  ginger  cordial  to 
warm  the  stomach.  I  warrant  it  is  poor  stuff  that  they 
give  you.  Servants  don't  give  their  minds  to  cordials.  But 
Molly  wouldn't  go.  She  was  never  one  of  your  shy  and 
shamefaced  girls,  neither.  c  Go  and  thank  his  honour, 
do,'  I  said  to  her.  l  What  will  he  think  of  your  manners  ? 
Don't  leave  it  to  the  captain.  Go  yourself.'  That's  what 
I  said." 

"  Indeed,  madam,  Miss  Molly  has  already  thanked  me 
more  than  enough.  I  am  most  fortunate  in  being  of  some 
service  to  her." 

"  John,"  the  good  lady  added, "  where  are  your  manners, 
pray  ?  His  honour  has  nothing  to  drink.  A  glass  of 
home-brewed,  now,  or  a  little  of  my  ginger  cordial  ?  Un- 
less you  will  take  a  bottle  home  with  you.  Or  a  glass  of 
Lisbon  ?  We  are  not  so  poor  as  to  miss  it." 

"  Nothing,  madam,  nothing,  I  assure  you."  So  saying, 
his  lordship,  with  his  most  profound  bow,  quitted  the  room 
and  the  house. 

His  mind  was  now  made  up.  There  was  no  longer  any 
doubt  possible  as  to  the  girl's  great  fortune.  He  had  satis- 
fied himself  in  every  particular.  He  knew  the  value  of  her 
fleet,  and  the  income  of  her  business.  He  now  knew  the 
value  of  her  jewels.  He  would  make  the  girl  his  wife, 
provided  he  could  do  it  without  the  settlement  of  her  for- 
tune upon  herself.  There  must  be  no  settlement. 

What  he  proposed  to  do  with  her  after  his  marriage  I  do 
not  know.  Perhaps  he  would  send  her  to  his  country 
house,  from  which  he  had  already  sold  the  furniture,  the 
pictures,  the  books,  and  everything.  It  stood,  I  have  been 
told,  in  a  desert,  which  had  once  been  a  lovely  wood.  But 
the  wood  was  felled,  and  only  the  stumps  were  left.  There 
were  gardens  around,  but  they  had  gone  to  wrack  and  ruin. 
The  farmers,  his  tenants,  paid  their  rent  to  the  lawyers ; 
his  name  was  a  by-word  and  a  proverb  in  his  own  county 
for  mad  gambling,  for  raking,  and  ungodly  living.  I  say 
that  he  might  have  proposed  to  take  her  to  this  deserted 
spot,  and  to  leave  her  there.  Or  he  might  have  taken  her 


A  GRATEFUL  MIND  215 

to  London,  there  to  associate  with  I  know  not  what  kind 
of  women  or  what  kind  of  men.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  no  good  woman  and  no  honest  man  would  consort 
with  the  wife  of  the  Earl  of  Fylingdale.  He  walked  away, 
however,  his  mind  made  up.  He  would  marry  the  girl  if 
he  could  get  her  without  settlements.  And  as  he  thought 
of  that  treasury  of  precious  stones,  his  unholy  heart  glowed 
within  him. 

Molly  went  back  to  the  kitchen  and  resumed  the  making 
of  the  beefsteak  pie. 

"John,"  said  her  mother,  "does  that  young  man  mean 
anything  ? " 

"  He  gives  me  advice.  He  knows  my  design  as  regards 
Molly.  He  is  a  very  virtuous  young  gentleman,  as  well  as 
courageous." 

"John,  do  nothing  hastily.  He  did  not  look  at  Molly  in 
a  way — well,  I  can  remember — what  I  call  a  hungry  way. 
Take  care,  John.  Perhaps  he  only  wants  her  money." 

"  Why,  Jennifer,  he  is  the  most  fastidious  man  in  the 
world.  Do  you  think  he  can  be  taken  with  Molly  ?  " 

"Try  him.  Offer  him  Molly  without  a  farthing.  He 
would  turn  away.  I  am  sure  he  would,  John.  I  know 
what  a  lover's  looks  should  be.  Offer  him  Molly  with  her 
fortune.  Ah  !  then  you  shall  see.  John,  do  nothing  rash. 
Remember,  Molly  is  ignorant  of  gentlefolk  and  their  ways. 
I've  heard  of  their  ways.  Molly  is  like  me ;  she  will  ex- 
pect the  whole  of  her  husband,  not  a  part  of  him." 

"  Don't  I  tell  the  woman  that  he  is  a  man  of  the  nicest 
honour  ? " 

"  You  say  so.     How  do  you  know,  John  ?  " 

"  Did  he  not  rescue  the  girl  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life  ? 
Why,  Jennifer,  what  more  do  you  ask  ?  " 

"  Ay.  That  he  did.  Perhaps  he  was  not  willing  to  let 
her  fortune  go  to  some  other  man.  Molly  is  worth  right- 
ing for.  Well,  if  he  means  something,  why  did  he  go  on 
board  the  dirty  ship  with  you — and  he  so  fine  ?  Why  was 
he  so  anxious  to  know  what  the  girl  has  in  ships  and 
things  ?  Why  did  he  ask  to  see  her  jewels  if  it  was  not  to 
find  out  what  they  are  worth  ?  I  tell  you,  John,  I  could 
see  in  his  eyes  what  he  was  thinking  about." 

"  Ay,  ay ;  trust  a  woman  for  seeing  into  a  millstone." 


216  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  He  was  thinking  '  Is  she  worth  it  ? '  And  he  was  cal- 
culating how  it  all  mounted  up.  Oh  !  I  saw  it  in  his  eyes. 
John,  be  very  careful.  If  she  is  taken  from  us  let  her  go 
to  a  man  who  will  make  her  happy  and  then  I  will  bear  it. 
But  not  among  them  that  drink  and  gamble,  nor  make  a 
woman  mad  with  jealousy  and  sick  with  fear.  John,  John, 
be  very  careful  with  that  man." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

THE    LAST   STEP    BUT   ONE 

You  shall  now  hear  more  of  the  cunning  by  which  this 
noble  and  virtuous  person — this  adornment  and  boast  of  the 
peerage — laid  his  plans  for  securing  the  fortune  and  the 
hand  of  our  Molly.  He  had  persuaded  the  simple  old  sailor 
to  believe  anything  he  chose  to  advance;  he  had  shown 
himself  in  the  eyes  of  the  girl,  that  which  women  admire 
more  than  anything  else  in  the  world,  fearless  and  skilled  in 
fence  and  ready  to  fight ;  he  had  also  shown  himself  ready 
to  place  his  courage  and  his  skill  at  the  service  and  for  the 
rescue  of  a  woman.  So  far,  everything  was  prepared  and 
in  readiness  for  the  next  step.  But  there  were  certain 
obstacles  still  in  the  way.  These  he  proceeded  to  remove. 

The  Lady  Anastasia,  after  the  morning  prayers,  at  which 
she  was  a  regular  attendant,  generally  returned  to  her  lodg- 
ing, where  she  sat  with  her  maid  engaged  in  the  important 
affairs  of  the  toilette  until  dinner. 

This  day,  after  his  examination  of  the  jewels,  Lord 
Fylingdale  was  carried  to  Lady  Anastasia' s  lodging  in  the 
market-place. 

The  Lady  dismissed  her  maid.  "  You  have  something 
to  tell  me,  Ludovick,"  she  said.  "  I  cannot  tell  from  your 
face  whether  you  are  going  to  deal  truthfully.  I  have  had, 
as  you  know,  a  large  experience  of  the  other  way.  Now, 
what  is  it  ?  " 

"  What  I  have  come  to  say  is  important.  Anastasia,  in 
this  matter  I  have  given  you  my  entire  confidence.  There 
have  been,  I  own,  occasions  when  I  have  been  compelled — 
but  all  that  is  over.  I  now  confide  absolutely  in  you  and 
in  you  alone.  My  interests  are  yours." 

"You  have  already  given  me  that  assurance  on  other 
occasions."  She  implied,  perhaps,  by  these  words  that  the 
assurance  and  the  fact  were  not  identical. 

317 


218  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  What  can  I  give  you  except  my  assurance  ? " 

"  Nothing,  truly.  But  pray  go  on.  I  hear  that  you 
have  been  playing  the  part  of  knight  errant  and  fighting  for 
distressed  damsels.  I  laughed  when  I  heard  of  it.  You  to 
fight  on  the  side  of  the  angels  ?  Where  are  your  wings,  my 
Ludovick  ?  " 

"  The  thing  happened  exactly  as  I  could  have  wished. 
The  country  bumpkin  who  carried  her  ofF  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  fence.  He  could  only  lunge,  and  he  was  half 
drunk.  There  was  a  great  appearance  of  desperate  fighting 
— because  he  was  mad  with  drink  and  disappointment.  I 
played  with  the  fellow  long  enough  to  make  a  show  of 
courage  and  danger.  Then  I  pinked  him." 

"  Is  he  dead  ?  " 

"  I  believe  that  he  is  in  some  kind  of  fever.  Perhaps  he 
is  by  this  time  dead.  What  matters  ?  Well,  Anastasia,  the 
result  of  the  affair  is  that  I  have  now  arrived  at  perfect  con- 
fidence on  the  part  of  my  old  friend  the  guardian." 

"  And  with  the  girl  ? " 

"  The  girl  matters  nothing.  The  first  part  of  the  busi- 
ness is  done.  You  can  now  go  back  to  London." 

"  Go  back  to  London  ?  "  she  repeated,  suspiciously. 

"You  have  done  all  I  wanted  done  here.  You  have 
given  me  a  very  good  character ;  you  have  charmed  the 
people  of  the  spa ;  you  have  flattered  the  girl  and  inspired 
her  with  discontent.  Why  should  you  stay  any  longer  ?  " 

"  To  be  sure  I  am  living  at  great  expense,  and  the  bank 
is  in  a  poor  way.  But  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  Anastasia  " — he  sat  down  and  took  her  hand — "  I  have 
inquired  carefully  into  the  whole  business.  There  is  no 
doubt,  none  whatever,  that  the  girl  is  far  richer  than  even 
her  guardian  understands.  She  has  a  huge  income — a  great 
accumulation  of  money — and,  what  is  more,  a  collection  of 
jewels  which  is  in  itself  a  large  fortune.  Go  back  to 
London  to-morrow  or  next  day ;  then  sit  down  and  write  a 
letter  inviting  the  girl  to  stay  at  your  house.  Bid  her  bring 
with  her  all  her  jewels  and  finery.  I,  for  my  part,  will  urge 
the  captain  to  let  her  accept  the  invitation." 

"  All  this  is  very  circumstantial.     What  then  ? " 

"  I  will  promise  the  captain  to  find  her  a  husband — a  man 
of  position,  a  man  of  rank,  and,  above  all,  one  as  virtuous 


THE  LAST  STEP  BUT  ONE  219 

as  myself."  He  said  this  without  the  least  blush  or  even  a 
smile. 

"  Where  is  that  husband  to  be  found  ? " 

"  As  yet  I  do  not  know.  He  must  be  a  creation  of  our 
own.  He  must  not  know ;  he  must  simply  obey.  We 
shall  find  such  a  person  somewhere.  I  have,  I  believe,  a 
good  many  of  my  former  friends  in  the  fleet  or  the  King's 
Bench.  Now,  Anastasia,  to  find  one  of  these  unfortunates  ; 
to  offer  him  an  allowance,  say  a  guinea  a  week,  in  return 
for  a  power  of  attorney  to  administer  the  property.  True, 
there  are  the  creditors ;  but  we  might  take  over  the  detainers. 
He  must  not  be  suffered  to  get  out."  He  went  on  suggest- 
ing deceits  and  villainies. 

"  You  said  l  we.'  What  have  I  to  do  with  the  scheme  ? 
It  is,  you  must  confess,  Ludovick,  one  of  those  arrange- 
ments or  understandings  which  the  world  calls  a  con- 
spiracy." 

Lord  Fylingdale  released  her  hand.  Her  words  pained 
his  sensitive  soul.  "  If  at  this  time,  after  all  that  we  have 
done  together,  we  are  to  talk  of  conspiracies,  we  had  better 
act  separately,"  he  said  coldly. 

"  No,  I  am  your  servant,  as  you  know.  Sometimes  your 
most  unhappy  servant,  but  always  at  your  command.  Only 
now  and  then  it  pleases  me  to  call  things  by  their  proper 
names.  At  such  times,  Ludovick,  I  look  in  my  glass  and  I 
see,  not  the  Lady  Anastasia  in  a  company  of  fashion,  but  a 
poor  wretch  sitting  in  a  cart  with  her  arms  tied  down,  a 
white  nightcap  on  her  head  and  a  prayer-book  in  her  hand. 
There  is  a  coffin  in  the  cart." 

"  Anastasia  !  You  are  ridiculous.  What  have  we  done 
that  all  the  world  would  not  do  if  it  could  ?  These  scruples 
are  absurd,  and  these  visions  are  fantastic.  What  is  your 
share  ?  You  know  that  half  of  mine — all  that  is  mine — is 
yours  as  well.  You  shall  have  my  hand  and  my  name. 
These  you  should  have  had  long  ago  had  they  been  worth 
your  picking  up.  Alas  !  Anastasia,  no  one  knows  better 
than  you  the  desperate  condition  of  my  affairs." 

"  Well,  I  will  obey  you.  I  will  go  back  to  town.  I  will 
go  to-morrow.  The  other  partners  in  our  innocency — they 
will  also  go  back,  I  suppose." 

"They  will   have   done   their  part — Sir   Harry  and   the 


220  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

colonel  and  the  parson — they  will  all  go  back.  They  cost 
a  great  deal  to  keep,  and  they  have  done  their  work." 

"  Should  I  see  the  girl  before  I  go  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  not.  Write  to  her  from  London.  Invite  her 
to  stay  with  you.  For  my  own  part,  I  will  look  about  me 
for  the  man  we  want.  A  prisoner — on  the  poor  side — a 
gentleman ;  one  who  will  do  anything  for  a  guinea  a  week. 
The  girl  will  not  know  that  he  is  a  prisoner — it  will  be  quite 
easy " 

This  he  said,  concealing  his  real  intentions,  and  only 
anxious  to  get  this  lady  out  of  the  way.  But  he  left  her 
suspicious  and  jealous.  That  is  to  say,  she  had  already 
become  both,  and  this  intricate  plot  of  getting  a  husband 
from  the  fleet,  and  the  rest  of  it,  made  her  still  more  sus- 
picious and  jealous. 

At  the  "  Crown  "  Lord  Fylingdale  found  Colonel  Lan- 
yon  waiting  for  him. 

"  I  have  inquired,  my  lord,  after  Tom  Rising.  He  is  in 
a  fever  this  morning." 

"  Will  he  die  ?     What  do  they  think  r  " 

"  Perhaps.  But  he  is  young.  They  think  that  he  will 
recover.  What  are  your  lordship's  commands  ?  " 

"  We  have  stayed  here  long  enough,  colonel." 

"  With  submission,  my  lord.  Although  business  has 
been  very  bad,  it  would  be  as  well  to  wait  for  the  event  in 
Tom  Rising's  case.  My  position  is  very  secure  if  he  re- 
covers. The  gentlemen  of  the  company  have  acknowl- 
edged that  he  forced  high  play  upon  me ;  they  are  unani- 
mous in  that  respect.  It  means  over  a  thousand  pounds. 
If  he  recovers  he  must  pay  the  money." 

"Yes.  In  that  case  it  may  be  best  to  wait.  If  he 
dies " 

"Then,  my  lord,  we  know  not  what  his  heirs  and  ex- 
ecutors may  resolve  upon.  The  feeling  concerning  debts 
of  honour  is,  however,  very  strong  among  the  gentlemen 
of  Norfolk.  I  am  sorry  that  they  are  not  richer." 

"  If  the  man  dies  you  can  refer  to  me,  perhaps,  as  arbi- 
trator with  the  executors.  Meantime,  make  the  best  of 
your  opportunities  and  lose  no  more  money.  Lady  Anas- 
tasia  goes  home  in  a  few  days,  perhaps  to-morrow." 

The  man   retired.     Lord  Fylingdale   sat  down  and  re- 


THE  LAST  STEP  BUT  ONE  221 

fleeted.  The  great  thing  was  to  get  Lady  Anastasia  out 
of  the  way ;  the  rest  might  stay  or  not,  as  they  pleased. 
Yet  he  would  warn  them  that  their  departure  would  not  be 
delayed  long.  He  took  pen  and  paper  and  wrote  to  Sir 
Harry. 

"  DEAR  BEAU, — I  think  that  the  air  of  Lynn  after  a  few  weeks 
is  not  wholesome  for  one  no  longer  in  his  first  youth.  I  would 
therefore  advise  that  you  should  think  about  going  back  to  town. 
Settle  immediately  your  affairs,  gaming  and  others.  Leave  the 
hearts  you  have  broken  and  return  to  mend  those  which  are  only 
cracked.  In  a  word,  the  ladies  of  London  are  calling  loudly  for 
your  return,  and  the  wits  and  pretty  fellows  are  asking  what  has 
become  of  Sir  Harry. — Your  obedient  servant  to  command, 

"  FYLINGDALE." 


There  remained  the  parson  and  the  poet.  The  latter  he 
could  send  away  at  a  day's  notice ;  the  former  he  would 
probably  want  for  a  certain  purpose.  He  sent  for  Mr. 
Semple,  his  secretary. 

"  Semple,"  he  said,  "  I  have  now  made  inquiry  into  the 
truth  of  your  statements — I  mean  as  regards  this  young 
lady's  fortune." 

"  It  is  as  I  told  your  lordship  ?  " 

"  It  is.  The  fortune  you  have  exaggerated,  but  it  is  no 
doubt  considerable.  Well,  I  have  sent  for  you  in  order 
to  tell  you  that  I  am  now  resolved  upon  carrying  out  the 
project  you  submitted  to  me.  My  own  affairs  are,  as  you 
found  out,  embarrassed ;  the  girl's  fortune  will  be  useful  to 
me ;  her  person  is  passable  ;  her  manners  can  be  improved. 
I  have  therefore  determined  to  make  her  my  countess." 

"  My  lord,  I  rejoice  to  have  been  the  humble  instru- 
ment  " 

"  You  have  kept  the  secret,  so  far,  I  believe.  At  least 
I  have  seen  no  sign  that  any  one  suspects  my  intentions. 
You  have  invented  a  lie  of  enormous  audacity  in  order  to 
bring  us  all  together ;  myself,  your  project  up  my  sleeve ; 
and  certain  friends  of  mine,  to  assist  in  various  ways ;  your 
inventions  have  converted  an  ordinary  well  into  a  health 
restoring  spring;  you  have  caused  the  elevation  of  this 
town  of  common  sailors  and  traders  and  mechanics  into  a 


222  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

fashionable  spa.  Semple,  you  are  a  very  ingenious  person. 
I  hope  that  you  are  satisfied  with  your  success." 

"  Gratified,  my  lord.     Not  satisfied." 

"  I  understand.  You  shall  be  satisfied  very  shortly  by 
the  fulfillment  of  my  promise.  It  is,  if  I  remember,  to 
find  you  a  place  under  government,  worth  at  least  £200 
a  year,  with  perquisites.  You  shall  learn,  Semple,  that  I 
can  be  grateful  and  that  I  can  keep  my  word,  written  or 
spoken.  Now  there  remains  one  more  service." 

He  proceeded  to  give  him  certain  instructions. 

"And,  remember,  the  greatest  secrecy  is  to  be  observed. 
Neither  you  nor  the  captain  is  to  reveal  the  fact — until  the 
business  is  completed.  Everything  will  be  ruined  if  any- 
thing is  revealed.  Your  own  future  depends  upon  your 
secrecy.  You  are  sure  that  you  have  your  instructions 
aright  ? " 

"  I  am  quite  sure,  my  lord.  I  am  your  ambassador.  I 
come  with  a  message  of  great  importance.  There  are 
reasons  why  the  proceedings  are  to  be  kept  secret.  The 
lady  will  be  made  a  countess  before  a  prying  and  imperti- 
nent world  can  be  informed  of  your  lordship's  intentions. 
I  fly,  my  lord.  I  fly." 

"  One  moment,  friend  Semple.  Before  you  depart  on 
this  mission,  resolve  me  as  to  a  difficulty  in  my  mind." 

"  What  is  that,  my  lord  ?  " 

"  You  are  aware,  of  course,  that  my  plan  of  life  is  not 
quite  what  this  girl  looks  for  in  a  husband.  She  will  ex- 
pect, in  fact,  the  bourgeoise  virtues — constancy,  fidelity, 
early  hours,  regularity,  piety.  You  know  very  well  that 
she  will  find  none  of  these  virtues.  They  are  not,  I  be- 
lieve, expected  in  persons  of  my  rank.  You  are  preparing 
for  the  girl,  in  fact,  a  great  disappointment,  and,  perhaps,  a 
life  of  misery.  If  I  did  not  want  her  money,  I  might  pity 
her." 

Sam's  face  darkened. 

"Tell  me,  my  friend,  in  return  for  what  acts  of  kind- 
ness done  to  you  by  the  captain  or  by  Molly  herself  are 
you  conferring  this  boon  upon  the  girl  ?  " 

The  poet  made  no  reply  for  awhile.  Then  he  answered, 
his  eyes  on  the  ground.  "  The  thing  is  as  good  as  done. 
I  may  as  well  let  you  know.  The  captain  cudgelled  me 


THE  LAST  STEP  BUT  ONE  223 

like  a  dog — like  a  dog.  My  gratitude  is  so  great  that  I 
have  succeeded  in  marrying  his  ward  to — you,  my  lord. 
What  worse  revenge  could  I  take  ?  " 

"  Frankly,  I  know  of  none."  The  devil,  himself,  you 
see,  can  speak  truth  at  times. 

"  You  will  waste  and  dissipate  the  whole  of  her  fortune, 
and  would  if  it  were  ten  times  as  great,  in  raking  and 
gaming ;  you  will  send  her  back  to  her  own  people  broken- 
hearted and  ruined.  That  will  be  my  doing." 

"  Friend  Semple,"  said  his  lordship,  "  if  I  were  not 
Fylingdale  I  would  be  Semple;  and,  to  tell  the  truth,  if  I 
saw  any  other  way  of  raising  money  I  would — well,  per- 
haps I  would — even  pity  the  girl  and  let  her  go." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE    EXPECTED    BLOW 

THAT  evening  the  blow,  feared  and  expected,  fell,  for 
then,  and  not  till  then,  I  felt  that  we  had  lost,  or  thought 
we  had  lost,  our  maid. 

I  found  the  captain  sitting  in  the  summerhouse  alone, 
without  the  usual  solace  of  his  tobacco  and  his  October. 
"  Jack,"  he  said,  with  a  gloomy  sigh,  "  I  am  now  the 
happiest  of  men,  because  my  Molly  is  the  most  fortunate 
of  women.  I  have  attained  the  utmost  I  could  hope  or 
ask.  The  most  virtuous  of  men — I  should  say  of  noble- 
men— has  asked  the  hand  of  our  girl.  Molly  will  be  a 
countess  !  Rejoice  with  me  !  " 

I  stood  outside  on  the  grass,  having  no  words  to  say. 

"  She  will  marry  him  immediately.  Nothing  could  be 
more  happy  or  more  fortunate.  Such  rank — such  a  posi- 
tion as  places  her  on  a  level  with  the  highest  ladies  of  the 
land,  though  the  daughter  of  plain  folk,  with  a  shipowner 
for  a  father  and  a  sailor's  daughter  for  a  mother.  There 
is  promotion  for  you,  Jack  !  " 

"  She  will  go  away,  then,  and  leave  us !  " 

"  Aye  ;  she  will  leave  us,  Jack.  She  will  leave  us.  His 
lordship — you  do  not  ask  who  it  is." 

"  Who  can  it  be,  captain,  but  Lord  Fylingdale  ?  " 

"The  best  of  men.  He  will  carry  her  off  to  his 
country  house,  where  they  will  live  retired  for  a  while, 
yet  in  such  state  as  belongs  to  her  rank.  We  shall  lose 
her,  of  course.  That,  however,  we  always  expected. 
The  country  house  is  in  Gloucester,  on  the  other  side  of 
England.  Perhaps  she  may  get  to  see  us,  but  I  am 
seventy-five,  or  perhaps  more,  and  Jennifer,  her  mother, 
is  not  far  from  fifty.  I  cannot  look  to  set  eyes  on  her 
again.  What  matter."  He  hemmed  bravely  and  sat  up- 
right. "  What  matter,  I  say,  so  that  the  girl  is  happy. 

224 


THE  EXPECTED  BLOW  225 

Her  mother  may,  perhaps,  set  eyes  on  her  once  more ;  but 
she  will  be  changed,  because,  you  see,  our  Molly  must 
now  become  a  fine  lady." 

"  Yes,"  I  groaned,  "  she  must    become  a  fine  lady." 

"  Jack,  sometimes  I  am  sorry  that  she  has  so  much 
money.  Yet,  what  was  I  to  do  ?  Could  I  waste  and 
dissipate  her  money  ?  Could  I  give  away  her  ships  ? 
Could  I  give  her,  with  the  fortune  of  a  princess,  to  a  plain 
and  simple  skipper  ?  No ;  Providence — Providence,  Jack, 
hath  so  ordered  things.  I  could  not  help  myself." 

"  No,  captain ;  you  could  not  help  things.  Yet  .  .  ." 
I  broke  off. 

"  Well,  Jack,  why  don't  you  rejoice  with  me  ?  Why 
the  devil  don't  you  laugh  and  sing  ?  All  you  want  is  to 
see  her  happy,  yet  there  you  stand  as  glum  and  dumb  as  a 
mute  at  a  funeral." 

"  I  wish  her  happiness,  sir,  with  all  my  heart." 

"  Sam  Semple  came  here  this  afternoon,  by  order  of  my 
lord.  Sam  gives  himself  airs  now  that  he  is  a  secretary 
and  companion.  He  came  and  demanded  a  private  con- 
versation with  me.  It  was  quite  private,  he  said,  and  of 
the  utmost  importance.  So  we  sat  in  the  parlour,  and, 
with  a  bottle  of  wine  between  us,  we  talked  over  the 
business.  First,  he  told  me  that  his  patron,  as  he  calls 
him,  meaning  his  master,  had  been  greatly  taken  with  the 
innocence  and  the  beauty  of  Molly.  I  replied  that  unless 
he  was  a  stock,  or  a  stone,  or  an  iceberg,  I  expected  noth- 
ing less.  He  went  on  to  say,  that  although  a  noble  earl 
with  a  long  pedigree  and  a  great  estate,  his  patron  was 
willing  to  contract  marriage  with  a  girl  who  was  not  even 
of  gentle  birth,  and  had  nothing  but  her  beauty  and  her 
innocence.  I  told  him  that  she  had,  in  addition,  a  very 
large  fortune.  He  said  that  his  patron  scorned  the  thought 
of  money,  being  already  much  more  wealthy  than  most 
noblemen  of  his  exalted  rank  ;  that  he  was  willing,  also, 
to  pass  over  any  defects  in  manners,  conversation,  and 
carriage,  which  would  be  remedied  by  a  little  acquaintance 
with  the  polite  world.  In  a  word,  his  lordship  offered  his 
hand,  his  name,  his  title,  his  rank,  and  himself — to  my 
ward." 

"  His  condescension,"  I  said,  "  is    beyond    all    praise." 


226  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  I  think  so,  too.  Beyond  all  praise.  I  asked  his  ad- 
vice touching  a  husband  for  my  girl.  He  promises  his 
assistance  in  the  matter,  and  he  then  offers  himself.  Jack, 
could  anything  be  more  fortunate  ?  " 

"  I  hope  it  may  turn  out  so.     What  does  Molly  say  ?  " 

"  You  may  go  in  and  ask  her  yourself.  She  will  tell  you 
more  than  she  will  tell  anybody  else.  The  matter  is  to  be 
kept,  for  the  present,  a  profound  secret  between  his  lord- 
ship and  ourselves.  But  since  Sam  Semple  knows  it,  and 
Jennifer  knows  it,  and  you  are  one  of  ourselves,  therefore, 
you  may  as  well  know  it,  too.  But  don't  talk  about  it." 

"  Why  should  it  be  kept  a  secret  ?  Why  should  it  not 
be  proclaimed  everywhere  ?  " 

"  My  lord  says  that  the  place  is  a  hot-bed  of  scandal ; 
that  he  would  not  have  Molly's  name  passed  about  in  the 
pump  room  to  be  the  object  of  common  gossip  and  inven- 
tions, made  up  of  envy  and  malice.  He  would  spare 
Molly  this.  When  she  is  once  married  and  taken  away 
from  the  place  they  may  say  what  they  please.  Whatever 
they  say,  they  cannot  do  her  any  harm.  Why,  some  of 
them  even  declared  that  she  was  one  of  the  company  of 
strolling  actresses.  There  is  nothing  that  they  will  not 
say." 

I  made  no  reply,  because  it  certainly  did  seem  as  if  in 
asking  for  secrecy  his  lordship  had  acted  in  Molly's 
interests. 

"  Well,  captain,  we  must  make  the  best  of  it.  You 
must  find  your  own  happiness  in  thinking  of  Molly's." 

"  What  aggravates  me,  Jack,  is  the  ridiculous  behaviour 
of  my  cousin  Jennifer.  She  is  in  the  kitchen  crying,  and 
the  black  woman  with  her.  Go  and  comfort  her  before 
you  see  Molly." 

I  looked  into  the  kitchen.  Molly's  mother  sat  in  the 
great  wooden  chair  beside  the  fireplace.  She  held  her  apron 
in  her  hands  as  if  she  had  just  pulled  it  off  her  face,  and 
the  tears  were  on  her  cheeks.  When  she  saw  me  they 
began  to  flow  again.  "Jack,"  she  said,  "have  you  heard 
the  news  ?  Has  the  captain  told  you  ?  The  worst  has 
happened.  I  have  lost  my  girl.  She  is  to  be  married ;  she 
will  go  away ;  she  will  marry  a  man  who  scorns  her  guard- 
ian and  despises  her  mother.  A  bad  beginning,  Jack. 


THE  EXPECTED  BLOW  227 

No  good  can  come  of  such  a  marriage.  A  bad  beginning. 
Oh  !  I  foresee  unhappiness.  How  can  Molly  become  a 
fine  lady  ?  She  is  but  a  simple  girl — my  own  daughter. 
I  have  made  her  a  good  housewife,  and  all  her  knowledge  will 
be  thrown  away  and  lost.  It  is  a  bad  business,  Jack. 
Nigra  has  been  telling  her  fortune.  There  is  nothing 
hopeful.  All  the  cards  are  threatening.  And  the  magpies 
— and  the  screech  owl " 

She  fell  to  weeping  again.  After  which  she  broke  out 
anew.  "  The  captain  says  he  is  the  most  virtuous  man  in 
the  world.  It  isn't  true.  If  ever  I  saw  the  inside  of  a 
man  in  my  life  I  have  seen  the  inside  of  that  man.  He  is 
corrupt  through  and  through " 

"  But — consider.  All  the  world  is  crying  up  his  noble 
conduct  and  his  many  virtues." 

"  They  may  say  what  they  like.  It  is  false  ;  he  is  heart- 
less ;  he  is  cold  j  he  is  selfish.  He  marries  Molly  for  her 
money.  Persuade  the  captain,  if  you  can.  He  will  not 
believe  me." 

"  How  can  I  persuade  him  ?  I  have  no  knowledge. 
Are  they  all  in  a  tale?  Are  you  the  only  person  who 
knows  the  truth  ?  How  do  you  know  it  ?  " 

"  I  know  it  because  I  love  my  girl,  and  so  I  can  read  the 
very  soul  of  a  man.  I  have  read  your  soul,  Jack,  over  and 
over  again.  You  are  true  and  faithful.  You  would  love 
her  and  cherish  her.  But  this  man  ?  He  knows  not  what 
love  means,  nor  fidelity,  nor  anything.  Go,  Jack.  There 
is  no  help  in  you  or  in  any  other.  Because  there  is  none 

other "  She  spoke  the  words  of  the  prayer  book. 

"  None  other  that  fighteth  for  us,  but  only  Thou,  O  God ! 
Only  Thou,  O  God  !  "  She  covered  her  face  again  with 
her  apron  and  fell  to  sobbing  afresh. 

So  I  went  into  the  parlour  where  Molly  was  sitting. 
"Jack!"  she  jumped  up.  "Oh,  Jack,  I  want  you  so 
badly." 

"  I  know  all,  Molly.  Except  what  you  yourself  say  and 
think  about  it." 

She  had  a  piece  of  work  in  her  hands,  and  she  began  to 
pull  it  and  pick  it  as  she  replied.  For  the  first  time  in  my 
life  I  found  Molly  uncertain  and  hesitating. 

"  The  captain  says  that  it  is  the  greatest  honour  that  was 


228  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

ever  offered  to  any  woman  to  be  raised  from  a  lowly  condi- 
tion to  a  high  rank — and  all  for  love." 

"  All  for  love  ?  "  I  asked. 

"Why,  what  else  can  it  be  that  made  him  fight  for  me 
with  that  desperate  villain  ?  He  risked  his  life.  Whatever 
happens,  Jack,  I  cannot  forget  that." 

"  No.  It  was  doubtless  a  great  thing  to  do.  Has  he 
told  you  himself  that  it  was  all  for  love  ?  " 

"  He  has  not  spoken  about  love  at  all.  He  has  never 
once  been  alone  with  me.  It  seems  that  these  great  peo- 
ple make  love  by  message.  He  sent  a  message  by  Sam 
Semple." 

"  A  very  fine  messenger  of  Cupid,  truly  !  " 

"  Offering  marriage.  The  captain  cannot  contain  his 
satisfaction  and  sits  glum.  My  mother  says  she  will  never 
be  able  to  see  me  again  and  begins  to  cry." 

11  Well — but,  Molly,  to  be  sure  it  is  a  great  thing  to  be- 
come a  countess.  Most  women  would  jump  at  the 
chance,  under  any  conditions.  Do  you,  however,  think 
that  you  can  love  the  man  ?  " 

"  He  hasn't  asked  for  love.  Oh,  Jack,  to  think  that 
people  should  marry  each  other  without  a  word  of  love  ! 
If  he  loves  me  I  suppose  he  thinks  that  I  am  bound  to  give 
him  love  in  return." 

"  There,  again,  Molly,  do  you  love  the  man  ? " 

"  Jack,  nobody  knows  me  better  than  you.  What  reply 
can  I  make  ?  " 

"  He  is  too  cold  and  too  proud  for  you,  Molly.  How 
can  you  love  him  ?  Perhaps,"  I  added,  because  I  was  very 
sure  that  she  would  marry  him,  "  after  marriage  you  will 
find  that  his  coldness  is  only  a  cloak  to  hide  his  natural 
warmth,  and  that  his  pride  covers  his  wife  as  well  as 
himself." 

"  He  is  a  good  man.  Everybody  says  so.  Lady  Anas- 
tasia  declares  that  he  is  the  most  honourable  and  high- 
principled  of  men.  On  that  point  I  am  safe.  And  think, 
Jack,  what  a  point  it  is  !  Why,  to  marry  a  drunkard,  a 
sot,  a  profligate,  a  gambler — one  would  sooner  die  at  once 
and  so  an  end.  But  I  can  trust  myself  with  him.  I  have 
no  fear  of  such  treatment  as  drives  some  wives  to  distrac- 
tion. Yet  he  is  cold  in  his  manner  and  proud  in  his 


THE  EXPECTED  BLOW  229 

speech.  I  might  find  it  in  my  heart  to  love  him  if  I  was 
not  afraid  of  him."  And  so  she  went  backwards  and  for- 
wards. He  was  so  good  and  so  great ;  his  wife  must 
always  respect  him.  He  was  of  rank  so  exalted — it  was  a 
great  honour  to  become  his  wife.  He  was  so  brave — she 
owed  her  rescue  to  his  bravery.  Yet  he  had  spoken  no 
word  of  love ;  nor  had  she  seen  any  sign  of  love.  I  asked 
her  what  sign  she  expected,  and  she  was  confused.  "  Of 
course,"  she  said,  "  every  girl  knows  very  well  when  a  man 
is  in  love  with  her."  "  How  does  she  know  ? "  I  asked 
her.  "  She  knows,  because  she  knows."  I  suppose  she 
felt  the  man  was  not  in  love  with  her  just  as  her  mother 
felt  that  his  character  for  virtue  and  nobility  was  assumed 
— "corrupt  within,"  she  said.  Women  are  made  so.  And 
in  the  next  breath  Molly  repeated  that  what  his  lordship 
had  done  was  done  for  love.  "  How  do  you  know  ? "  I 
asked  again.  "  Because  the  captain  says  so,"  she  replied, 
with  unconscious  inconsistency. 

"  Is  the  courtship  to  be  conducted  entirely  by  mes- 
senger ? "  I  asked. 

"  No  ;  he  will  come  to-morrow  morning  and  see  me.  I 
am  to  give  him  an  answer  then.  But  the  captain  has 
already  told  him  what  the  answer  is  to  be.  Oh,  Jack,  I 
am  so  happy  !  I  am  so  fortunate  that  I  ought  to  be  happy. 
Yet  I  am  so  down-hearted  about  it.  Going  away  is  a 
dreadful  thing.  And  when  shall  I  see  any  of  you,  I  won- 
der, again  ?  Oh,  I  am  so  fortunate !  I  am  so  happy." 
And  to  show  her  happiness  she  dropped  a  tear,  and  more 
tears  followed. 

What  kind  of  happiness,  what  kind  of  good  fortune  was 
that  which  could  fill  the  mind  of  the  captain  with  gloom 
and  could  dissolve  Molly's  mother  in  tears,  and  could 
herald  its  approach  to  the  bride  by  sadness  which  weighed 
her  down  ?  And  as  for  me,  you  may  believe  that  my  heart 
was  like  a  lump  of  lead  within  me,  partly  because  I  was 
losing  the  girl  I  loved,  but  had  never  hoped  to  marry,  and 
partly  because  from  the  outset  of  the  whole  affair — yes, 
from  the  very  evening  when  the  news  of  the  grand  dis- 
covery was  read  to  the  "  Society  of  Lynn  " — I  had  looked 
forward  to  coming  events  with  foreboding  of  the  most  dis- 
mal kind. 


230  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Come  to  see  me  to-morrow  afternoon,  Jack,"  she  said. 
"  I  must  talk  about  it  to  some  one.  With  the  captain  I 
cannot  talk,  because  he  is  all  for  the  unequal  match,  and 
with  my  mother  I  cannot  talk  because  she  foretells  trouble, 
and  will  acknowledge  no  good  thing  at  all  in  the  man  or 
in  the  match.  Do  not  forget,  Jack.  Come  to-morrow.  I 
don't  know  how  many  days  are  left  to  me  when  I  can  ask 
you  to  come.  Oh,  Jack,  to  leave  everybody — all  my 
friends — it  is  hard  !  But  I  am  the  most  ungrateful  of 
women,  because  I  am  the  happiest — the  happiest.  Oh, 
Jack,  the  happiest  and  most  fortunate  woman  that  ever 
lived." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

WARNING 

IN  the  evening,  which  was  Wednesday,  I  repaired  to  the 
gardens,  paying  for  my  admission,  but  no  longer  in  the 
character  of  a  fine  gentleman.  Lord  Fylingdale  was  not 
present,  nor  Molly.  Lady  Anastasia  was  there,  gracious 
and  smiling  as  usual.  Nothing  was  said  about  her  ap- 
proaching departure.  After  walking  round  the  long  room 
she  retired  to  the  card  room,  and  play  began  as  usual.  It 
seemed  to  me,  looking  on  with  a  few  others  at  the  door, 
that  there  was  a  kind  of  awkwardness  or  constraint  among 
the  company.  They  collected  together  in  small  groups, 
which  whispered  to  each  other ;  then  these  groups  melted 
away,  forming  new  companies,  which  in  their  turn  dis- 
solved. Something  of  importance  had  happened.  Pres- 
ently some  of  the  gentlemen  in  the  card  room  came  out. 
They,  in  their  turn,  became  surrounded  and  formed  into 
another  group,  who  whispered  eagerly  with  each  other. 
They  were  standing  near  the  door,  and  I  overheard  some 
of  their  discourse.  "  I  am  assured,"  one  of  them  was  say- 
ing, "  that  he  has  been  ordered  out  of  the  assembly  at  Bath 
for  foul  play  at  cards,  and  I  have  it  on  the  best  authority 
that  he  was  driven  off"  the  Heath  of  Newmarket."  I  did 
not  know  of  whom  he  was  speaking. 

"  Truly,"  said  another,  "  we  seem  to  have  fallen  into  the 
midst  of  a  very  pretty  set  of  sharpers.  Will  Tom  Rising, 
if  he  gets  the  better  of  his  wound,  have  to  pay  that  debt  ? 
I  think  not.  A  debt  of  honour  can  only  be  contracted 
with  a  man  of  honour." 

"On  the  other  hand,  sir,  if  Tom  had  won  he  would 
have  looked  for  payment." 

"  Why,  sir,  that  is  true.  But  observe,  when  we  played 
with  the  colonel  we  took  him  for  a  man  of  honour.  Some 
of  us  have  won  a  few  guineas  of  him.  Should  we  return 
them  ?  No.  And  why  ?  Because  we  accepted  him  as  a 

33 » 


232  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

man  of  honour,  and  stood  to  win  or  lose  as  between  gen- 
tlemen. Now,  one  does  not  play  with  a  sharper  know- 
ingly. One  would  not  take  his  money  ;  one  would  not  pay 
him  if  we  lost." 

"  Then  Tom  must  not  pay." 

"  If  what  we  hear  is  true  ;  if  the  man  has  been  exposed 
at  Bath;  if  he  has  been  warned  off  the  Heath  of  New- 
market ;  most  assuredly  Tom  must  not  pay  a  farthing." 

"  At  present  the  fever  is  still  upon  him.  Well,  but  we 
must  wait.  All  this  may  be  mere  rumour." 

"  It  may  be,  as  you  say ;  but  I  think  not.  The  report 
comes  from  Houghton,  Sir  Robert's  place,  where  a  certain 
cousin  of  Tom  Rising,  member  of  Parliament,  I  think,  for 
Ipswich,  is  now  staying  as  a  guest.  Houghton  is  only  a 
few  miles  from  Lynn.  It  lies  in  the  marshland.  This 
gentleman,  then,  heard  of  the  duel  and  the  wound,  and  has 
been  to  see  his  cousin." 

"  Is  he  still  in  the  town  ?  Can  one  have  speech  with 
him  ?  " 

"  I  think  not.  He  has  gone  back  to  Houghton.  But 
he  will  return.  I  am  informed  that  he  inquired  into  the 
whole  particulars ;  that  he  learned  of  his  cousin's  heavy 
losses  at  play  to  one,  Colonel  Lanyon.  4  Lanyon  ? '  says 
my  Parliament  man.  1 1  know  that  name  —  Colonel 
Lanyon  ?  Why,  the  fellow  ought  not  to  show  his  face 
among  gentlemen,'  and  then  out  came  the  whole  story." 

"  Still,"  said  the  other,  "  he  may  be  mistaken." 

"  Men  are  not  often  mistaken  in  such  matters.  But,  sir, 
I  can  tell  you  more.  There  are  gentlemen  in  Sir  Robert's 
party,  at  Houghton,  who  profess  to  know  strange  things 
about  others  of  our  visitors  from  London.  I  will  mention 
no  names,  yet  there  will  be  a  surprise  for  some  who  pre- 
tend to  be  what  they  are  not.  I  say  no  more,  except  to 
advise  you  not  to  neglect  next  Friday's  assembly.  Mean- 
time, silence,  let  us  say  nothing." 

The  little  group  broke  up.  I  paid  small  attention  to  the 
words.  The  colonel  was  quite  unknown  to  me,  except  as 
a  constant  attendant  in  the  card  room.  But  I  observed  that 
the  whispering  went  on,  and  increased,  and  that  every  man 
in  every  group  presently  went  away  and  formed  other 
groups,  and  that  more  communications  were  made  and  more 


WARNING  233 

discussions  followed,  and  that  on  every  one  was  enjoined  a 
promise  of  the  greatest  secrecy. 

Also  I  observed  that  every  group  contained  the  same 
varieties  of  listeners.  There  was  the  open-mouthed  man, 
who  gaped  with  wonder;  the  wise  man  after  the  event, 
who  had  always  entertained  suspicions  ;  the  indignant  man, 
who  was  for  immediate  measures ;  the  slow  man,  who 
would  wait ;  and  the  critical  man,  who  wanted  evidence 
and  proof.  I  dare  say  there  were  more. 

Such  whisperings  and  such  groups  do  not  create  cheerful- 
ness in  a  company.  Suspicion  and  jealousy  were  in  the  air 
that  night ;  the  music  played  and  the  fiddlers  scraped  ;  the 
singers  squalled  ;  the  people  walked  round  and  round,  after 
their  usual  fashion ;  there  was  plenty  of  conversation  and 
of  animation ;  they  were  excited  ;  they  were  evidently 
looking  forward  to  some  important  event;  but  they  were 
not  laughing,  nor  paying  compliments,  nor  talking  of  dress, 
nor  were  they  listening  to  the  music  or  the  singers. 

And  a  very  curious  circumstance  happened  in  the  card 
room.  There  was  at  first  the  usual  crowd  of  players 
sitting  and  standing ;  the  usual  staking  of  guineas,  and  lay- 
ing and  taking  odds ;  it  was,  in  fact,  an  ordinary  evening, 
when  the  company  pressed  round  the  table  and  the  game 
went  on  merrily.  Then  one  or  two  people  came  in  from 
the  long  room.  There  were  whispers ;  two  or  three  left 
their  places  and  retired  from  the  room.  Other  people 
came  in  from  the  long  room ;  there  were  more  whispers ; 
more  players  gave  up  their  seats  and  left  the  room.  After 
a  while  there  was  no  one  left  in  the  card  room  at  all  except 
Lady  Anastasia,  Sir  Harry  Malyns,  and  Colonel  Lanyon. 
The  croupier  still  stood  at  the  head  of  the  table,  rake  in 
hand,  crying  the  main  and  proclaiming  the  odds.  Seeing 
no  one  else  at  the  table,  the  two  players  desisted. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?  "  asked  the  lady,  looking  round. 
"  We  are  deserted." 

"  I  know  not,"  Sir  Harry  replied.  "  Some  distraction  in 
the  gardens  ;  probably  a  quarrel ;  one  of  the  bumpkins  has 
perhaps  struck  another." 

He  went  out  to  inquire,  but  came  back  immediately. 
"  There  is  no  distraction,"  he  said.  "  Nothing  has  hap- 
pened ;  the  people  are  walking  round  as  usual." 


234  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Something,  surely,"  said  the  lady,  "  must  have  hap- 
pened. Why  are  the  tables  deserted  ?  Such  a  thing  has 
never  occurred  before.  Colonel,  will  you  kindly  find  out 
what  it  means  ?  I  have  the  vapours  to-night,  I  think. 
My  mind  misgives  me." 

Colonel  Lanyon  rose  and  walked  to  the  door.  He 
looked  up  and  down  the  long  room  and  returned. 
"  Nothing  has  happened,"  he  said.  "  They  are  all  strangers 
to  me.  But  since  there  is  no  more  play  I  will  e'en  betake 
me  to  the  tavern." 

"And  I,"  said  the  lady,  "will  go  home.  Sir  Harry, 
please  call  my  fellows." 

Sir  Harry  led  her  through  the  long  room  to  the  door. 
As  she  got  into  the  chair,  she  said,  "  Sir  Harry,  there  is 
something  brewing.  I  caught  looks  of  hostility  as  we 
passed  through  the  room.  Do  you  think  it  is  the  jealousy 
of  the  women  about  that  girl  with  the  diamonds  ? " 

"  I  observed  no  hostile  looks." 

"  Men  never  see  such  things.  I  tell  you  I  not  only  saw 
them,  but  I  felt  them.  We  have  given  these  people  mortal 
offence.  They  are  gentlefolk.  We  come  among  them, 
and  we  admit  to  our  society  a  girl  who  has  no  pretence  to 
gentility.  Lord  Fylingdale  dances  with  her ;  I  take  her  to 
the  assembly.  Lord  Fylingdale  actually  follows  her  when 
she  is  carried  off  and  fights  for  her  and  rescues  her.  This 
is  a  thing  which  he  might  do  for  any  of  those  ladies,  and 
with  no  more  than  the  customary  jealousies;  but  with  such 
a  girl  it  makes  bad  blood." 

"  Hostile  looks  mean  nothing.  What  if  there  is  bad 
blood  ? " 

"  Sir  Harry — Sir  Harry — it  is  only  in  London,  and  not 
always  there,  that  we  account  ourselves  free  from  revenge. 
It  is  a  revengeful  world,  and  there  are  many  people  in  it 
who  would  willingly  put  you  and  me  and  the  colonel,  not 
to  speak  of  the  parson  and  the  earl  himself,  in  pillory,  and 
pelt  us  with  rotten  eggs  and  dead  cats." 

So  she  got  into  her  chair,  and  the  old  beau,  shaking  his 
head,  called  his  own  chair  and  was  carried  home. 

But  Colonel  Lanyon  who  walked  to  the  tavern  where  his 
friends  met  every  night  found  the  place,  to  his  astonish- 
ment, empty.  Then  he,  too,  remembered  certain  signs  of 


WARNING  235 

hostility  or  resentment,  notably  the  desertion  of  the  players, 
and  the  cold  looks  as  he  left  the  place.  Now,  as  the 
worthy  adventurer  and  sharper  was  by  no  means  conscious 
of  innocence,  he  began  to  feel  uneasy.  To  such  men  as 
those  who  live  by  their  wits  there  is  always  the  danger  that 
some  past  scandal  may  be  revived,  some  former  half  for- 
gotten villainy  remembered. 

Therefore  he  became  disquieted.  He  had  some  reason 
for  disquiet,  for,  to  begin  with,  he  had  done  very  well. 
Tom  Rising  would  recover,  it  was  thought.  He  would 
recover  in  a  week  or  two,  or  more.  He  would  then,  as  a 
man  of  honour,  have  to  raise,  by  hook  or  by  crook,  the 
sum  of  ;£i,2OO,  of  which,  by  the  compact,  one-fourth  was  to 
be  the  colonel's  and  three-fourths  were  the  earl's.  This 
is  a  large  sum  of  money  to  win  or  to  lose.  Now,  if  any- 
thing inopportune  was  to  occur,  such  as  the  revival  of  an 
old  scandal — say  that  of  Bath,  or  that  of  Tunbridge  Wells, 
or  that  of  Newmarket,  these  winnings  would  be  in  a  dan- 
gerous situation. 

A  gentleman  who  lives  by  his  wits,  although  he  may  be 
a  good  swordsman  and  a  good  shot  with  a  pistol,  cannot 
escape  the  consequences  of  a  scandal.  The  thing  follows 
him  from  place  to  place.  It  gets  into  taverns  and  hangs 
about  gaming-houses  ;  it  stands  between  him  and  his  prey ; 
it  snatches  the  young  and  inexperienced  player  from  his 
grasp  ;  it  even  prevents  the  payment  of  the  debts  commonly 
called  of  honour.  Now,  the  colonel  had  been  about  town 
and  in  the  haunts  of  gamesters  for  a  good  score  of  years, 
and,  truth  to  tell,  he  now  found  it  difficult,  anywhere,  to  be 
received  into  the  company  of  gentlemen. 

While  he  sat  in  the  empty  room  one  of  the  gentlemen, 
its  frequenters,  came  in.  The  colonel  looked  up. 

"Why,  sir,"  he  said,  "where  is  the  company  this 
evening  ? " 

"There  will  be  no  company  to-night,  colonel." 

"  Ay — ay  ?     No  company  ?     Where  are  they  all,  then  ?  " 

"  To  be  frank  with  you,  Colonel  Lanyon,  I  am  deputed 
to  inform  you  that  certain  things  are  rumoured  about  you 
which  must  be  explained." 

"  Certain  things,  sir  ?  "     The  colonel  sprang  to  his  feet. 


236  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"To  be  explained?  This  is  a  very  ugly  word.  To  be 
explained.  The  word,  sir,  attacks  my  honour." 

"  It  does  so,  colonel.     You  are  quite  right." 

"  Then,  sir,  you  and  your  friends  will  have  to  fight  me." 

"We  will  willingly  fight  with — a  man  of  honour.  Not 
only  that,  but  where  a  man  of  honour  is  concerned  we 
should  be  most  willing  to  offer  an  apology,  if  we  have  at- 
tacked his  honour.  To  be  brief,  colonel,  certain  things 
have  been  said  concerning  you  and  your  honour.  They 
have  been  alleged  behind  your  back." 

"Well,  sir,  suppose  my  assailant  meets  me  face  to  face. 
Gad,  sir,  he  shall  meet  me  on  the  grass." 

"  Softly,  softly,  colonel.  There  will  be  no  fighting,  I 
assure  you.  As  for  anything  else,  that  depends  on  your- 
self. Frankly,  colonel,  they  are  very  nasty  things.  On 
the  other  hand,  I  assure  you  that,  as  we  have  received  you 
without  suspicion,  we  shall  stand  by  you  loyally." 

"  In  that  case  we  need  not  talk  of  explanations." 

"Loyally,  I  say,  unless  the  explanations  are  not  forth- 
coming." 

"  Give  me  the  statements  or  the  charges." 

"I  cannot,  colonel.  They  are  at  present  vague.  But  I 
am  instructed  to  invite  you  to  be  present  in  the  card  room 
on  Friday  evening  next,  when  an  opportunity  will  be  afforded 
you  of  hearing  what  has  been  stated  and  of  replying.  Colo- 
nel, we  have  found  you  very  good  company.  We  all  desire 
to  retain  you  as  a  friend." 

"  But,  sir,  permit  me.  This  is  monstrous.  You  tell  me 
of  charges,  you  avoid  my  society,  you  refuse  to  tell  me  the 
nature  of  the  charges,  and  you  call  upon  me  to  reply  on 
the  spot  without  knowing " 

"Your  reply  will  be  quite  easy.  It  really  means  either 
yes  or  no.  And  if,  as  I  doubt  not,  you  can  disprove  what- 
ever is  alleged,  you  will  yourself  entirely  approve  of  our 
action  in  separating  for  a  time  from  a  man  accused  of  things 
dishonourable,  of  giving  him  an  opportunity  of  reply,  also 
of  my  warning." 

"  Why,  sir,  if  to  be  grateful  for  such  a  warning  and  for 
such  general  charges  is  a  duty,  I  will  be  grateful.  Mean- 
time   " 

"  Meantime,  colonel,  you  know  your  past  life  better  than 


WARNING  237 

any  one.  If  there  is  in  it  anything  of  which  you  are 
ashamed  let  me  recommend  you  to  present  that  affair  in  as 
favourable  a  light  as  possible.  Men  will  quarrel  over 
cards.  Accusations  are  easily  made.  The  duel  next  morn- 
ing does  not  clear  away  suspicion.  If,  however,  there  is 
nothing,  as  I  hope,  come  with  a  light  heart  and  a  cheerful 
countenance,  and  we  shall  rally  round  you  as  brothers  and 
men  of  honour.  I  wish  you  good-night,  Colonel  Lanyon, 
until  Friday,  after  which  I  hope  to  sit  here  beside  you,  the 
bowl  of  punch  on  the  table,  and  your  songs  and  stories  to 
keep  us  awake,  till  we  sit  down  again  to  the  cards." 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

THE    ARDENT   LOVER 

BETWEEN  ten  and  eleven  of  the  clock  next  morning, 
Molly's  suitor — I  cannot  call  him  her  lover — arrived  at  the 
house.  At  that  hour  most  of  the  ladies  are  at  morning 
prayers,  and  the  gentlemen  are  either  at  the  tavern  taking 
their  morning  whet,  or  at  the  coffee  house  in  conversation, 
or  engaged  in  some  of  the  sports  to  which  most  of  them 
are  so  much  addicted.  Lord  Fylingdale,  although  the  streets 
at  such  an  hour  are  mostly  deserted,  had  to  cross  the  mar- 
ket-place on  his  way  to  the  captain's  house,  in  Hogman's 
Lane,  and  was,  therefore,  carried  in  a  chair  with  the  cur- 
tains drawn,  so  as  to  avoid  recognition. 

He  was  received  by  Captain  Crowle  in  the  parlour. 
For  the  occasion  the  old  man  had  put  on  his  Sunday  suit, 
with  white  silk  stockings  ;  and  he  wore  his  sword,  to  which, 
as  the  former  commander  of  a  ship,  he  was  entitled. 

"  I  am  come,  captain,  to  receive  in  person  your  answer 
to  the  message  conveyed  to  you  yesterday  by  my  ambassa- 
dor. I  hope  that  the  message  was  delivered  faithfully,  and 
with  due  respect." 

"  I  believe,  my  lord,  with  both." 

"  I  assure  you,  Captain  Crowle,  that  the  respect  I  have 
conceived  for  your  character  and  loyalty  is  more  than  I  can 
express  in  words.  That  you  have  inspired,  in  the  mind  of 
your  ward,  similar  virtues  I  do  not  doubt,  and  this  confi- 
dence, believe  me,  has  much  to  do  with  the  offer  of  my 
hand  to  that  young  lady." 

"  Your  lordship  does  me  the  greatest  honour.  My  an- 
swer is  that  I  accept  in  Molly's  name,  and  joyfully." 

"  I  am  delighted.  This  should  be,"  he  added,  coldly, 
"  the  happiest  day  of  my  life." 

"  When  we  spread  the  news  abroad,  everybody  in  Lynn 
will  feel  that  the  greatest  honour  has  been  done  to  the  town 
as  well  as  to  this  house." 

238 


THE  ARDENT  LOVER  239 

"  Sir,  you  overrate  my  position.  Still  .  .  .  how- 
ever, we  must  keep  the  matter  secret  for  a  day  or  two  yet. 
I  engage  you,  captain,  to  profound  secrecy." 

"As  long  as  you  please,  my  lord.  The  sooner  I  may 
speak  of  it  the  better  I  shall  like  it,  for  I  am  bursting  with 
joy  and  satisfaction." 

"Patience,  captain,  for  a  day  or  two." 

The  captain  became  serious,  even  melancholy.  "  You 
will  take  her  away,  I  suppose." 

"  I  fear  I  must.  A  married  man  generally  takes  away 
his  wife,  does  he  not  ?  " 

"  You  will  take  her  to  your  country  house,  and  to  Lon- 
don. Well,  I  am  old — I  am  seventy-five  already.  I  can- 
not expect  ever  to  see  her  again.  Her  mother,  however, 
is  not  so  old  by  thirty  years.  Perhaps  your  lordship  will  at 
some  time  or  other — we  would  not  remind  you  of  your 
lady's  humble  folk — allow  her  if  she  is  within  an  easy 
journey  to  come  here  to  see  her  mother." 

"  Surely — surely,  captain.  Could  I  be  so  hard-hearted 
as  to  refuse  ?  Her  mother  certainly — or  yourself.  But 
not  her  old  friends.  Not  the  friends  of  her  childhood  such 
as  that  young  sailor  man — nor  the  girls  of  the  place." 

"  I  care  not  for  them,  so  that  I  may  comfort  her  poor 
mother  with  that  promise.  As  for  myself,  who  am  I  that 
I  should  intrude  upon  her  ?  Let  me  die  happy  in  the 
knowledge  that  she  is  happy." 

"  She  shall  be  as  happy  as  the  day  is  long,  captain." 

"  I  doubt  it  not.  As  for  Jack  Pentecrosse,  an  old  play- 
fellow, he  is  like  me.  He  loves  her  as  if  she  was  his  sis- 
ter, but  he  desires  nothing  but  the  knowledge  of  the  girl's 
happiness." 

"  I  accept  your  assurance,  captain,  that  he  will  not  en- 
deavour to  seek  her  or  to  visit  her." 

"  He  will  not.  My  lord,"  the  captain  became  very  seri- 
ous, "  I  can  promise  you  a  well-conditioned,  virtuous, 
modest,  obedient,  and  dutiful  wife.  She  will  ask  for  noth- 
ing but  a  continuance  of  your  lordship's  affection  and  con- 
sideration, in  return  for  which  she  will  be  your  willing 
servant  as  well  as  your  wife." 

"  Again,  captain,  I  doubt  it  not.  Else  I  should  not  be 
here." 


240  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"And  when  the  day  comes — when  you  pass  the  word, 
my  lord— the  bells  shall  ring  and  the  music  shall  play  and 
all  the  town  shall  make  holiday,  and  we  will  have  such  a 
feast  and  merrymaking  that  all  the  country  round  shall  ring 
with  it.  Lord,  I  am  so  happy  !  " 

"  But,  captain,  I  have  not  yet  received  the  consent  of  the 
lady." 

"  Be  assured  that  you  will  have  it.  But  the  girl  is  shy 
and  hesitates,  being,  to  say  the  truth,  dazzled  by  the  rank 
to  which  she  is  to  be  raised.  A  young  maid's  modesty  will 
perhaps  hinder  such  freedom  of  speech  as  you  would  natur- 
ally desire." 

"  I  hope,  sir,  that  I  am  able  to  appreciate  and  value  the 
virtue  of  modesty.  All  I  ask  of  the  young  lady  is  her 
consent." 

"  Of  that  you  may  be  assured  beforehand." 

"Then,  captain,  as  this  is  an  occasion  of  some  awkward- 
ness and  one  which  it  is  well  to  get  through  as  quickly  as 

possible "  Did  one  ever  hear  of  such  a  lover? 

"Well,  to  get  through  as  quickly  as  possible,"  his  first  in- 
terview with  his  mistress.  "You  will  perhaps  bring  Miss 
Molly  to  me  or  take  me  to  her." 

Molly,  meanwhile,  was  in  her  bedroom,  in  a  strange 
agitation,  her  colour  coming  and  going;  now  pale,  now 
blushing ;  for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  trembling  and  in- 
clined to  swoon.  Even  for  a  girl  who  loves  a  man  it  is  an 
event  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  one  never  to  be  for- 
gotten, when  she  consents  to  make  him  happy.  But  when 
she  is  in  grievous  doubt,  torn  by  the  consciousness  that  she 
does  not  love  the  man ;  that  she  is  afraid  of  him ;  that  she 
does  not  desire  the  change  of  rank  which  he  offers ;  and 
that  she  would  far  rather  remain  among  her  own  people. 
In  such  a  case,  I  say,  her  trouble  is  great  indeed.  How- 
ever, to  do  honour  to  the  occasion,  she,  like  the  captain, 
had  assumed  her  Sunday  attire.  Her  frock,  to  be  sure,  was 
not  so  fine  as  that  in  which  she  graced  the  assembly,  but  it 
was  passable.  To  my  mind  she  looked  more  beautiful  than 
in  that  splendid  dress. 

At  her  guardian's  summons,  she  slowly  descended  the 
stairs.  The  kitchen  door  was  open ;  she  looked  in  as  she 
passed.  Her  mother,  instead  of  being  busy  over  her  house- 


THE  ARDENT  LOVER  241 

wifery  was  sitting  in  her  chair,  her  hands  clasped,  her  eyes 
closed,  her  lips  moving.  She  was  praying  for  her  daughter. 
Molly  stepped  in  and  kissed  her.  "  Mother,"  she  said, 
"  pray  that  it  may  turn  out  well.  I  must  accept  him.  Yet 
I  doubt.  Oh,  pray  for  me  !  " 

"  Because,"  her  mother  murmured  in  reply,  "  the  cap- 
tain cannot  help,  and  Jack  cannot  help  ;  and  there  is  none 
other  that  helpeth  us  but  only  Thou,  O  God !  " 

Then  Molly  turned  the  handle  of  the  parlour  door  and 
entered. 

"  Miss  Molly  !  "  her  gallant  lover,  splendid  with  his  star 
and  his  fine  clothes,  took  her  hand,  bowed  low,  and  kissed 
her  fingers. 

"  You  would  speak  with  me,  my  lord." 

"Yesterday  I  sent  a  message  to  your  guardian.  I  told 
him  by  my  messenger  that  I  was  entirely  overcome  by  the 
beauty  and  the  charms  and  the  virtues  of  his  fair  ward. 
And  I  offered,  unworthy  as  I  am,  my  hand  and  all  that 
goes  with  it — my  rank,  and  title,  my  possessions  and 
myself." 

"  The  captain  told  me  of  the  message." 

"  I  have  to-day  received  an  answer  from  him.  But  al- 
though he  is  your  guardian  I  would  not  presume  to  con- 
sider that  answer  as  final.  I  must  have  your  answer  as 
well." 

"  My  lord,  I  am  but  a  humble  and  a  homely  person." 

"  Nay,  but  lovely  as  Venus  herself." 

"  I  know  now,  since  all  the  company  have  come  to 
Lynn,  how  homely  and  humble  I  am  in  the  eyes  of  gentle- 
folk." 

"  You  will  no  longer  be  either  homely  or  humble — when 
you  are  a  countess." 

u  I  fear  that  your  friends  among  the  great  will  make 
your  lordship  ashamed  of  your  choice." 

"  My  friends  know  me  better  than  to  suppose  that  I  can 
be  ashamed  by  their  opinion.  But,  indeed,  they  have  only 
to  see  you  for  that  opinion  to  be  changed.  Once  seen  by 
the  world  and  all  will  envy  and  congratulate  the  happy 
possessor  of  so  much  beauty." 

"  Then,  are  you  satisfied  that  you  are  truly  in  love  with 
me  ? " 


242  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Satisfied  ?  "  He  took  her  hand  again  and  kissed  it. 
"  How  shall  I  satisfy  you  on  this  point  ?  By  what  assur- 
ance ?  By  what  lover's  vows  ?  " 

She  glanced  upwards,  having  spoken  so  far  with  hanging 
head.  Her  eyes  met  his.  Alas  !  they  were  cold  and  hard. 
There  was  no  softening  influence  of  love  visible  in  those 
eyes;  only  resolution  and  purpose.  His  eyes  were  as  cold 
as  his  forehead  and  as  hard  as  his  lips.  Poor  Molly  !  Poor 
countess ! 

"Is  it  not,  my  lord,"  she  asked,  "a  mere  passing  fancy  ? 
You  will  be  tired  of  me  in  a  month  ;  you  will  regret  that 
you  did  not  choose  rather  among  the  fine  ladies  who  speak 
your  language  and  follow  your  manners." 

"  Molly,  I  am  a  man  who  does  not  encourage  idle  fancies 
and  passing  loves.  You  will  find  no  change  in  me.  As  I 
am  now  so  I  shall  be  always." 

She  shivered.     The  prospect  made  her  feel  cold. 

"  Then,  my  lord,"  she  said,  "  I  have  nothing  more 
to  say.  I  shall  not  do  justice  to  your  rank,  nor  shall 
I  bring  to  your  house  the  dignity  which  you  deserve. 
Such  as  I  am,  take  me,  if  you  will,  or  let  me  go,  if  you 
will." 

"  Can  you  doubt,  Molly  ?  I  will  take  you."  He  hesi- 
tated; he  took  her  hand  again;  he  stooped  and  kissed  her 
forehead.  There  was  no  passion  in  his  kiss ;  no  tenderness 
in  his  touch ;  no  emotion  in  his  voice.  Such  as  he  was 
then  such  he  would  always  be.  And  though  the  door  was 
closed,  Molly  seemed  to  hear  again  the  voice  of  her  mother 
murmuring  "  but  only  Thou,  O  God  !  " 

Her  lover  drew  the  captain's  armchair  and  placed  it  at 
the  open  window  which  looked  out  into  the  garden,  then 
filled  with  flowers,  fragrant  and  beautiful,  and  melodious 
with  the  humming  of  many  bees. 

"  Sit  down,  Molly,  and  let  us  talk." 

He  did  not  sit  down.  He  stood  before  her;  he  walked 
about  the  room;  he  played  with  the  gold  tassels  of  his 
sword. 

"  Molly,  since  we  are  to  be  married,  we  must  be  married 
at  once." 

"  I  am  your  lordship's  servant." 

"  As  soon  as  possible.     Are  you  ready  ?  " 


THE  ARDENT  LOVER  243 

"  Ready  ?  I  suppose  I  could  be  ready  in  a  month  or  six 
weeks." 

"  Why,  what  is  there  to  do  ?  " 

"  I  have  to  get  things — dresses,  house  linen,  all  kinds  of 
things." 

"  My  dear,  you  are  not  going  to  marry  a  cit.  Everything 
that  you  want  you  can  buy.  There  are  plenty  of  shops. 
You  want  nothing  but  what  you  have — your  wardrobe,  your 
fine  things,  and  your  common  things,  and  your  jewels.  You 
must  not  forget  your  jewels." 

"  I  thought  that  brides  were  always  provided  with  things 
for  the  house.  But  if  your  lordship  has  already  the  linen 
and  the  napery " 

"  Good  Lord  !  How  should  I  know  what  I  have  ?  The 
thing  is  that  you  will  need  nothing." 

"  Where  will  you  take  me  ? " 

"  I  think,  first  of  all,  to  my  house  in  Gloucestershire.  It 
is  not  fully  furnished ;  the  late  possessor,  my  cousin,  whom 
I  succeeded,  was,  unfortunately,  a  gambler.  He  had  to  cut 
down  his  woods  and  to  sell  them ;  he  even  had  to  sell  his 
furniture  and  pictures.  But  I  can  soon  put  the  house  in 
order  fit  for  your  reception."  It  was  he  himself,  and  not 
his  predecessor,  who  had  sold  these  things.  "If  it  is  not  so 
fine,  at  first,  as  you  would  wish,  we  can  soon  make  it  worthy 
of  you." 

I  have  often  wondered  what  he  intended  to  do  with  his 
bride  if  things  had  gone  differently.  I  am  now  certain  that 
he  intended  to  take  her  to  this  great  country  house,  which, 
as  I  have  understood,  stands  in  a  secluded  part  of  the 
country,  with  no  near  neighbours  and  no  town  within 
reach  ;  and  that  he  intended  to  leave  her  there,  while  he 
himself  went  up  to  London  to  resume  the  old  gaming  and 
raking,  which  he  desired  so  much,  although  they  had  been 
his  ruin.  Fate,  however,  prevented  this  design. 

"  If  you  desire  my  happiness,  my  lord " 

"What  else  is  there  in  the  whole  world  that  I  should 
desire  ? " 

"  You  will  take  me  to  that  country  place  and  live  there. 
I  fear  the  world  of  fashion  and  I  have  no  wish  to  live  in 
London.  I  have  learned  from  the  Lady  Anastasia  how  the 
great  ladies  pass  their  time." 


244  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Everything  shall  be  as  you  wish,  Molly.  Everything, 
believe  me." 

He  then,  by  way  of  illustrating  this  assurance,  proposed  a 
thing  which  he  himself  wished. 

"  We  must  be  married  immediately,  Molly,  because  I  am 
called  away,  by  affairs  of  importance,  to  Gloucestershire.  I 
ought  to  leave  this  place  not  later  than  Saturday."  The 
day  was  Thursday. 

"  Saturday  ?     We  must  be  married  on  Saturday  ?  " 

"Sooner  than  Saturday.  To-morrow.  That  will  give 
us  time  enough  to  make  what  little  preparations  may  be 
necessary." 

"  To-morrow  ?     But  we  cannot  be  married  so  soon." 

"  Everything  is  prepared.  I  have  the  license.  We  can 
be  married  to-morrow." 

"  Oh  !  "     It  was  all  she  could  say. 

"  There  is  another  thing.  Your  guardian  would  like  to 
make  a  public  ceremony  of  the  wedding;  he  would  hang 
the  town  with  flags,  and  ring  the  bells,  and  summon  the 
band  of  the  marrowbones  and  cleavers,  while  all  the  world 
looked  on." 

"Yes.  He  is  so  proud  of  the  marriage  that  he  would 
like  to  celebrate  it." 

"  And  you,  Molly  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  to  be  married  with  no  one  to  look  on,  and 
no  one  to  know  anything  about  it  until  it  was  over." 

"Why — there,  Molly — there,  we  are  agreed.  I  was  in 
great  fear  that  you  would  not  think  with  me.  My  dear,  if 
there  is  one  thing  which  I  abhor,  it  is  the  public  ceremony 
and  the  private  feasting  and  merriment  with  which  a  wed- 
ding is  accompanied.  We  do  not  want  the  town  to  be  all 
agog ;  we  do  not  want  to  set  all  tongues  wagging ;  nor  do 
we  want  to  be  a  show  with  a  grand  triumphal  march  and  a 
feast  to  last  three  days  afterwards." 

"  Can  we  be  private,  then  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  I  can  arrange  everything.  Now,  Molly, 
my  plan  is  this.  We  will  be  married  privately  in  St. 
Nicholas  Church  at  six  in  the  morning,  before  the  company 
are  out  of  their  beds.  No  one  will  see  us ;  after  the  mar- 
riage you  will  come  back  here ;  I  will  return  with  you,  and 
we  will  then  inform  the  captain  and  your  mother  of  the 


THE  ARDENT  LOVER  245 

joyful  news.  Believe  me,  when  they  come  to  think  it  over, 
they  will  rejoice  to  be  spared  the  trouble  and  the  preparation 
for  a  wedding  feast." 

"  But  I  cannot  deceive  the  captain." 

"There  is  no  deception.  He  has  agreed  to  the  match. 
He  knows  that  you  have  agreed.  There  is  one  consider- 
ation, Molly,  which  makes  a  private  marriage  necessary.  I 
could  not  consent  to  a  public  wedding  or  to  a  wedding  feast, 
because  my  rank  forbids.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me 
to  invite  any  person  of  my  own  position  to  such  a  feast,  and 
it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  sit  down  with  those  per- 
sons— worthy,  no  doubt,  and  honest — whom  the  captain 
would  certainly  wish  to  invite." 

This  was  certainly  reasonable,  and  certainly  true.  Rank 
must  be  respected,  and  a  noble  earl  cannot  sit  down  to 
feast  with  merchants,  skippers,  mates,  parsons  and  the  like. 

"Then  it  shall  be  as  your  lordship  pleases." 

"  Be  at  the  church  at  six,"  he  said.  "  I  will  provide 
everything  and  see  that  everything  is  ready  for  you.  Do 
not  be  recognised  as  you  pass  along  the  street.  You  can  wear 
a  domino  with  the  pink  silk  cloak  which  you  wore  the  other 
night  at  the  assembly.  Then  I  shall  recognise  you.  No 
one  else,  Molly,  need  be  considered.  Are  you  sure  that  you 
understand  ? " 

"  Yes,"  she  sighed.     "  I  understand." 

"  Then,  Molly,"  he  bowed  low,  and,  without  offering  to 
kiss  her,  this  wonderful  lover  left  his  mistress  and  was  car- 
ried home  in  his  chair. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

THE    SECRET 

ALL  these  things  were  told  me  by  Molly  herself  in  the 
afternoon.  You  may  very  well  believe  that  my  heart  was 
sick  and  sore  to  think  of  Molly  being  thus  thrown  away  for 
a  bribe  of  rank  and  position  upon  a  man  who  seemed  to  be 
of  marble  or  of  ice.  For  of  one  thing  concerning  women 
I  am  very  certain,  that  to  make  them  happy  they  must  be 
loved.  At  the  time  I  could  not  know,  nor  did  I  suspect, 
that  this  noble  earl  was  marrying  Molly  for  her  fortune. 
Like  the  captain,  I  pictured  him  as  one  lifted  above  the 
common  lot  and  apart  from  all  temptations  as  regards 
money,  by  his  own  great  possessions.  Why,  he  had  noth- 
ing— nothing  at  all.  So  much  I  know — he  had  wasted  and 
dissipated  the  whole.  There  was  nothing  left,  and  his 
marriage,  especially  his  private  and  hurried  manner  of  it, 
was  designed  wholly  to  give  him  the  possession  and  the 
control  of  Molly's  riches. 

"  To-morrow,  then,  we  lose  you,  Molly." 

"  To-morrow,  Jack.  His  lordship  consents  that  when- 
ever, if  ever,  I  am  within  an  easy  journey  of  Lynn  I  may 
come  back  to  see  my  mother.  But  when  will  that  be  ? 
Alas  !  I  know  not.  Gloucestershire  is  on  the  other  side  of 
the  country." 

"  After  all,  Molly,  there  are  many  wives  who  thus  go 
away  with  their  husbands  and  never  see  their  own  folk  any 
more.  They  forget  them ;  they  find  their  happiness  with 
the  home  and  the  children.  Why,  my  dear,  in  a  year  or 
two,  when  you  have  grown  accustomed  to  your  state  and 
the  condition  of  a  great  lady,  you  will  forget  Lynn  and  the 
old  friends." 

"  Never,  Jack,  never.  You  might  as  well  expect  me  to 
forget  the  days  when  we  were  children  together  and  played 
about  the  Lady's  Mount  and  on  the  walls,  and  rowed  our 

246 


THE  SECRET  247 

dingey  in  the  river.  Forget  my  own  folks  ?  Jack,  am  I  a 
monster?  " 

"  Nay,  but,  Molly,  all  I  want  is  to  see  you  happy.  Re- 
member us  if  you  will,  and  remember  that  we  are  all,  the 
captain,  and  your  mother  and  your  faithful  black  and  my- 
self, daily  praying  for  your  welfare." 

So  we  talked.  It  was  agreed  between  us  that  a  private 
wedding  was,  under  the  circumstances,  much  more  con- 
venient than  a  public  one,  with  all  the  display  and  feasting 
in  which  Lord  Fylingdale  could  not  take  part.  I  could  not 
but  think  the  business  too  much  hurried  and  too  secret. 
As  for  other  reasons,  especially  the  absence  of  any  settle- 
ments which  would  protect  the  wife,  I  had  no  knowledge 
of  such  things,  and  therefore  no  suspicion. 

I  bade  her  farewell — the  last  time  I  should  see  her  in 
private  and  converse  with  her  as  of  old — and  with  tears, 
we  kissed  and  parted.  But  there  was  no  question  of  love 
or  of  disappointment.  We  were  like  brother  and  sister 
who  were  separated  after  growing  up  together.  And  so  I 
kissed  her  and  said  no  more  than  "  Oh !  Molly,  if  you  had 
no  money,  we  should  not  lose  you,"  and  she  replied  with  a 
sigh  and  more  tears,  "  And  if  I  had  no  money,  Jack,  I 
should  not  have  to  leave  my  own  people  and  go  among 
strangers  who  will  not  welcome  me,  or  love  me,  or  give  me 
even  their  friendliness." 

I  left  her,  and  walked  away.  I  was  too  downhearted  to 
stay  ashore ;  I  would  go  aboard  and  sit  alone  in  the  cap- 
tain's cabin.  There  is  nothing  so  lonely  as  a  ship  without 
her  crew.  If  a  man  in  these  days  desires  to  become  a  her- 
mit, he  should  take  up  his  quarters  in  one  of  the  old  hulks 
that  lie  in  every  harbour,  deserted  even  by  the  rats,  who 
swim  away  when  the  provisions  are  all  gone.  It  is  lonely 
by  day,  and  it  is  ghostly  by  night.  For  then  the  old  ship 
is  visited  by  the  sailors  who  have  sailed  in  her  and  have 
died  in  her.  In  every  ship  there  have  been  many  who  die 
of  disease  or  by  accident,  or  fall  overboard  and  are  drowned. 
These  are  the  visitors  to  the  hulk  at  night.  Every  sailor 
knows  this,  and  has  seen  them.  I  wanted  to  be  alone,  I 
say,  therefore,  I  thought  I  would  go  on  board  and  stay 
there. 

Now,  on   my   way  across   the  market-place,  there  came 


248  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

running  after  me  a  man,  who  called  me  by  name.  "  Mr. 
Pentecrosse — Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  and,  looking  round,  I  saw 
that  it  was  the  Lady  Anastasia's  footman,  in  the  green  and 
gold  livery — a  very  fine  person  indeed,  to  look  at,  much 
finer  than  myself  in  my  workaday  clothes.  "  Sir,"  he  said 
"  my  mistress,  Lady  Anastasia,  desires  speech  with  you. 
Will  you  kindy  follow  me  to  her  lodging  ?  " 

I  obeyed.     What  did  the  lady  wish  to  say  to  me  ? 

She  was  in  her  parlour,  half  dressed  in  what  they  call,  I 
believe,  a  dishabille.  She  nodded  to  the  footman,  who  closed 
the  door  and  left  us  alone. 

"  Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  she  said  graciously,  "  this  is  the 
second  time  I  have  sent  for  you.  Yet  I  gave  you  permis- 
sion to  call  upon  me  often.  Is  this  the  politeness  of  a 
sailor  ?  Never  mind  ;  I  forgive  you,  because  Molly  loves 
you  and  you  love  Molly." 

"  Madam,"  I  replied,  "  it  is  true  that  I  love  Molly,  but  I 
have  no  longer  any  right  to  love  her  except  as  one  who 
would  call  himself,  if  he  could,  her  brother." 

"  So  I  wanted,  Mr.  Pentecrosse — may  I  say  Jack  ? — to 
learn  your  sentiments  about  this  affair.  I  am,  of  course,  in 
the  confidence  of  Lord  Fylingdale.  I  believe  that  I  know 
all  his  secrets — or,  at  least,  as  many  as  a  man  chooses  to 
tell  a  woman.  You  men  have  all  got  your  secret  cup- 
boards, and  you  lock  the  door  and  keep  the  key.  Say, 
therefore,  rather,  most  of  my  lord's  secrets." 

u  What  affairs,  madam,  do  you  mean  ?  "  I  remembered 
that  the  business  of  the  betrothal  was  a  secret.  "  What 
affairs  ? " 

"  Why  ask — the  affair  between  his  lordship  and  Molly, 
of  course.  Shall  I  prove  to  you  that  I  know  all  about  it  ?  " 

"You  can  do  better,  madam,  you  can  tell  me  what  the 
affair  is." 

"  Oh  !  Jack,  you  act  very  badly.  Never,  my  dear  young 
man,  go  upon  the  stage.  Of  course,  you  know  Molly  has 
no  secrets  from  you.  Listen,  then. 

"  On  the  first  night  when  Molly  and  you  distinguished 
yourselves  in  the  minuet — never  blush,  Jack,  a  British 
sailor  should  always  show  that  he  knows  no  fear — Lord 
Fylingdale  administered  a  public  rebuke  to  the  company  for 
their  rudeness.  He  showed  thereby  that  he  was  already 


THE  SECRET  249 

interested  in  the  girl.  He  then  paid  attention  to  the  old 
captain,  whose  simplicity  and  honesty  are  charming.  I 
need  not  point  out  to  you,  Jack,  that  the  good  old  man  be- 
came like  wax  in  his  lordship's  hands.  He  even  revealed 
his  ambition  of  finding  an  alliance  for  the  girl  with  some 
noble  house  or  sprig  of  quality,  attracted  by  the  report  of 
her  fortune.  He  was  also  simple  enough  to  imagine  that 
any  young  nobleman,  a  younger  son,  who  would  take  a  girl 
for  her  money,  must  needs  be  a  miracle  of  virtue,  and  be- 
yond all  considerations  of  money.  So  far  I  am  quite  cor- 
rect, I  believe." 

"Your  ladyship  i:  quite  correct,  so  far."  In  fact,  the 
captain's  ambitions  were  the  common  theme  of  ridicule  in 
the  pump  room  and  in  the  gardens. 

"  He  then  came  to  see  me,  and  engaged  me  as  an  old 
friend  and  one  fully  acquainted  with  his  qualities " 

"Virtues,  you  mean,  madam." 

"  Qualities,  I  said — to  make  myself  a  friend  of  the  fair 
Molly.  This  I  did.  She  showed  me  the  amazing  collec- 
tion of  jewels  which  she  possesses,  and  I  gave  her  advice 
on  certain  points.  She  came  here  and  I  taught  her  some- 
thing of  the  fashions  in  dress,  carriage,  and  behaviour.  She 
is  an  apt  pupil,  but  lacking  in  respect  for  the  manners  of 
the  polite  world.  I  then  find  my  lord  entering  into  further 
confidential  discourse  with  the  captain.  He  even  went  on 
board  your  ship,  and  was  by  you  escorted  over  the  whole 
vessel.  He  took  so  great  an  interest  in  everything  that  you 
were  surprised,  and  at  parting  he  drank  a  glass  of  wine  to 
the  health  of  the  fair  Molly." 

"  Quite  true."  I  suppose  that  the  captain  had  told 
Molly,  who  told  Lady  Anastasia. 

"Very  well.  You  see  that  I  know  something.  But 
there  is  a  great  deal  more.  At  the  next  assembly,  where 
Molly  went  with  me,  having  been  dressed  by  my  own  maid 
in  better  taste,  and  without  the  barbaric  splendour  of  so 
many  gold  chains  and  precious  stones,  Lord  Fylingdale 
took  her  out  before  all  the  ladies — the  Norfolk  ladies  being 
more  than  commonly  observant  of  pedigree  and  lineage — 
and  danced  the  first  minuet  with  her  and  the  first  of  the 
country  dances.  What  was  this,  I  ask  you,  but  an  open 
proclamation  to  the  world  that  he  was  in  love  with  this 


250  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

girl — the  daughter  of  a  town  full  of  sailors  ?  So,  at  least, 
it  was  interpreted,  I  hear,  by  some  of  the  company.  Oth- 
ers, out  of  sheer  jealousy  and  envy,  would  not  so  acknowl- 
edge the  action." 

"  It  was  not  so  interpreted  by  the  captain  nor  by  Molly 
herself." 

"  Tut,  tut "  (she  rapped  my  fingers  smartly  with  her  fan), 
"  what  signifies  their  opinion  ?  As  if  they  know  anything 
of  the  meaning  of  things,  even  when  they  are  done  in 
broad  daylight,  so  to  speak,  and  in  presence  of  all  the 
fashion  in  the  place.  Why,  Jack,  there  was  not  a  girl  in 
the  town,  who,  if  such  an  honour  had  been  done  to  her, 
would  not  have  gone  home  that  evening  to  see  in  the  look- 
ing-glass a  coronet  already  on  her  head. 

"  And  then  came  the  conclusion.  Oh,  the  beautiful 
conclusion !  The  romantic  conclusion  when  that  mis- 
guided young  gentleman  called  Tom  Rising  endeavoured 
to  carry  her  off.  'Twas  a  gallant  attempt,  and  would  have 
succeeded,  I  doubt  not " 

"  Madam,  with  submission — you  know  not  Molly." 

11 1  know  my  own  sex,  Jack — and  I  know  that  a  man  is 
never  liked  the  less  for  showing  courage.  However,  Lord 
Fylingdale  took  the  matter  into  his  own  hands — rode  after 
her — fought  the  unlucky  Tom  and  brought  back  the  lady. 
I  am  still,  I  believe,  correct." 

"You  are  quite  correct,  madam,  so  far  as  I  know." 

"  The  next  day  Lord  Fylingdale  called  at  the  captain's 
house  to  inquire  after  the  lady's  health.  He  saw  the  cap- 
tain ;  he  saw  the  lady  herself,  who  was  none  the  worse,  but 
rather  much  the  better  for  the  excitement  of  the  adventure 
and  the  delightful  sight  of  two  gentlemen  trying  to  kill 
each  other  for  her  sake.  He  also  saw  the  lady's  mother, 
who  came  out  of  the  kitchen,  her  red  arms  white  with  dough 
and  flour,  to  receive  the  noble  lord.  Her  lively  sallies  only 
made  him  the  more  madly  in  love  with  the  girl." 

How  had  she  learned  all  this  ?  I  cannot  tell.  But 
ladies  of  wealth  can  always,  I  believe,  find  out  things,  and 
servants  know  what  goes  on. 

Lady  Anastasia  continued  her  narrative.  "  Next  day 
my  lord  sent  his  secretary,  Mr.  Semple,  as  an  ambassador 
to  the  captain.  He  was  instructed  to  ask  formally  the  hand 


THE  SECRET  251 

of  the  captain's  ward  in  the  name  of  his  master.  This  he 
did,  the  captain  not  being  able  to  disguise  his  joy  and  pride 
at  this  most  unexpected  honour.  Now,  sir,  you  perceive 
that  I  do  know  the  secrets  of  that  young  lady.  This 
morning  he  has  again  visited  the  house,  and  he  received  the 
consent — no  doubt  it  was  with  disguised  joy — of  the  lady 
herself.  And  you  have  just  come  from  her.  She  has  told 
you  of  her  fine  lover  and  of  her  engagement." 

I  made  no  reply. 

"  I  will  tell  you  more.  My  lord  desires  a  private  mar- 
riage and  a  marriage  very  soon.  Ha!  Do  I  surprise 
you  ?  " 

"  Madam,  I  perceive  that  he  has  told  you  all.  You  are 
quite  right.  The  wedding,  as  you  know,  is  to  be  in  St. 
Nicholas  Church  to-morrow  morning  at  six  before  the 
better  sort  have  left  their  beds.  And  in  order  not  to  be 
recognised  by  any  of  the  people,  Molly  will  wear  a  domino 
and  her  pink  silk  cloak." 

She  nodded  her  head.  And  she  hid  her  face  with  her 
fan,  saying  nothing  for  a  space.  When  she  spoke  her 
voice  was  harsh. 

"  That  is  the  arrangement.  You  have  understood  it 
perfectly.  Well,  Jack,  it  is  a  very  pretty  business,  is  it 
not  ?  Here  is  a  young  man — only  thirty,  as  yet — with  a 
fine  old  title,  an  ancient  name,  and  an  ancient  estate — who 
is  bound  by  all  the  rules  of  his  order  to  marry  only  within 
his  own  caste.  He  breaks  all  the  rules ;  he  marries  a  girl 
who  is  not  even  a  gentlewoman  ;  who  belongs  to  the  most 
homely  folk  possible.  What  kind  of  happiness  do  you 
think  is  likely  to  follow  on  such  a  marriage  ?  You  who 
are  not  altogether  a  fool,  though  you  are  ignorant  of  the 
ways,  are  the  right  man  to  marry  Molly.  She  understands 
you  and  what  you  like,  and  how  you  think.  Believe  me, 
she  can  never  be  happy  with  this  nobleman.  Sailor  man, 
you  do  not  understand  what  it  means  to  be  a  great  man 
and  a  nobleman  in  this  country.  From  his  infancy  the  heir 
must  have  what  he  wants  and  must  do  as  he  pleases.  No 
one  is  to  check  his  fine  flow  of  spirits  -,  he  must  believe 
that  the  whole  world  is  made  for  his  amusement,  and  that 
everything  in  the  world  is  made  for  him  to  devour  and  to 
destroy.  When  such  a  child  becomes  a  man,  what  can  you 


252  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

expect  ?  He  wants  no  friends,  because  friendships  among 
people  like  yourself  are  based  on  mutual  help,  and  he  wants 
no  help.  Companions  he  must  have;  young  men  like  him- 
self. He  need  never  do  any  kind  of  work.  Consequently, 
his  mind  is  never  occupied.  He  has  no  serious  pursuits ; 
therefore,  of  simple  amusements  he  soon  tires.  Can  such 
a  man  be  unselfish  ?  Can  such  a  man  lead  a  quiet  and  do- 
mestic life  ?  He  will  rake  j  he  will  gamble  ;  he  will  drink ; 
there  is  nothing  else  for  him.  These  will  form  his  life. 
If  he  now  and  then  tosses  a  guinea  to  some  poor  wretch, 
it  is  counted  as  an  act  of  the  highest  charity.  The  most 
virtuous  of  noblemen  may  also  be  the  most  profligate." 

"  Is  this  what  one  is  to  think  of  Lord  Fylingdale  ?  " 

"  Think  what  you  please,  Jack.  Should  you,  however, 
hear  that  the  marriage  was  forbidden,  what  should  you  say  ?  " 

"  Forbidden  ?  The  marriage  forbidden  ?  But  how  ? 
Why  ?  It  is  to  take  place  to-morrow." 

"  I  don't  know.     Answer  my  question." 

"Madam,  I  cannot  answer  it.  If  it  is  true  that  Lord 
Fylingdale  is  the  kind  of  gentleman  whose  character  you 
have  drawn,  there  is  nothing  I  should  more  rejoice  to  see. 
If,  however " 

41  You  may  go,  Jack.  You  may  go.  I  dare  say  some- 
thing is  going  to  happen  to-morrow,  at  six  in  the  morning, 
at  St.  Nicholas  Church.  Yes,  something  will  probably 
happen.  The  bride  will  be  recognised  by  her  black  domino 
and  her  pink  silk  cloak.  Thank  you,  Jack.  You  are  a 
very  simple  young  man ;  as  simple  as  you  are  honest,  and 
a  woman  can  turn  you  round  her  finger." 

I  went  away  wondering.  I  did  not  understand,  being  as 
she  said,  so  simple  that  I  had  myself  actually  given  her  the 
information  that  she  desired.  I  have  since  learned  that  the 
passion  of  jealousy  and  nothing  else  filled  her  soul  and  in- 
spired all  this  reading  of  Lord  Fylingdale's  actions.  In 
his  conduct  at  the  assembly  she  saw  the  beginning  of  his 
passion  ;  his  own  explanation  that  he  wanted  to  get  her 
money  only  made  her  more  jealous,  because,  although  she 
fully  believed  that  statement,  she  saw  no  way  of  getting  at 
the  fortune  without  marrying  the  girl.  As  for  his  visits  to 
the  house,  I  suppose  that  she  simply  caused  him  to  be 
watched  and  followed,  while  her  maid,  who  played  the  spy 


THE  SECRET  253 

for  her,  could  from  a  certain  point  in  the  road  look  into  the 
parlour  when  the  window  was  thrown  open.  It  was  easy 
for  such  a  jealous  woman  to  surmise  the  truth;  to  jump  at 
the  conclusion  that,  in  spite  of  all  his  protestations,  Lord 
Fylingdale  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must  marry 
the  girl;  that  his  rescue  made  her  grateful  and  filled  her 
with  admiration  for  his  courage  ;  that  he  sent  his  secretary 
to  open  the  business,  and  that  he  followed  up  this  message 
by  a  formal  visit  from  himself  when  he  placed  the  lady  in  a 
chair  at  the  window  and  bent  over  her  and  kissed  her  hand. 

This  was  not  all.  When  he  told  Lady  Anastasia  that 
he  had  no  further  occasion  for  her  services,  and  that  she 
had  better  go  back  to  London  at  once  all  her  jealousy  flared 
up.  She  thus  divined,  at  once,  that  she  was  to  be  sent  out 
of  the  way,  so  that  when  she  next  met  him  some  of  the 
business  might  have  blown  over  and  she  herself  might  be 
less  indignant  at  his  treatment  of  her. 

However,  something,  she  said,  was  going  to  happen. 
What  would  happen  ?  For  my  own  part,  I  was  restless 
and  uneasy.  What  would  happen  ?  Had  I  known  more 
about  the  wrath  of  a  jealous  woman  I  should  have  been 
more  uneasy.  Something  was  going  to  happen  ;  could  I  go 
to  the  captain  and  warn  him  as  to  the  character  of  the 
lover  ?  Why,  I  knew  nothing.  All  that  talk  about  the 
heir  to  rank  and  riches  meant  nothing  except  to  show  the 
dangers  of  such  a  position.  A  man  so  born,  so  brought 
up,  must  of  necessity  be  more  tempted  than  other  men  in 
the  direction  of  selfishness,  indulgence,  luxury,  laziness, 
and  want  of  consideration  for  others.  It  is  surely  a  great 
misfortune  to  be  born  rich,  if  one  would  only  think  so. 
The  common  lot  is  best,  with  the  necessity  of  work.  All 
Molly's  misfortunes  came  from  that  money  of  hers.  Her 
father  very  wisely  concealed  from  his  wife  the  full  extent 
of  his  wealth,  so  that  she  remained  in  her  homely  ways, 
and  the  captain  also  concealed  from  Molly  until  she  grew 
up,  the  nature  of  her  fortune.  Why  could  he  not  conceal 
it  altogether  from  the  world  ?  Then — but  it  is  useless  to 
think  what  would  have  happened.  Most  of  our  lives  are 
made  up  with  mending  the  troubles  made  by  our  own  sins 
or  our  own  follies.  Poor  Molly  was  about  to  suffer  from 
her  father's  sin  in  having  so  much  worldly  wealth. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE    "  SOCIETY  "    AGAIN 

THE  "  Society  "  continued  to  meet,  but  irregularly,  during 
this  period  of  excitement  when  everybody  was  busy  making 
money  out  of  the  company,  or  joining  in  the  amusements, 
or  looking  on.  The  coffee  house  attracted  some  of  the 
members ;  the  tavern  others ;  the  gardens  or  the  long  room 
others.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  irregularities  of 
attendance  and  the  absences  and  the  many  new  topics 
of  discourse  caused  the  evenings  to  be  much  more  animated 
than  of  old,  when  there  would  be  long  periods  of  silence, 
broken  only  by  some  reference  to  the  arrival  or  departure 
of  a  ship,  the  decease  of  a  townsman,  or  the  change  in  the 
weather. 

This  evening  the  meeting  consisted,  at  first,  of  the  vicar 
and  the  master  of  the  school  only. 

"We  are  the  faithful  remnant,"  said  the  vicar,  taking  his 
chair.  "  The  mayor,  no  doubt,  is  at  the  coffee  house,  the 
alderman  at  the  tavern,  and  the  doctor  in  the  long  room. 
The  captain,  I  take  it,  as  at  the  elbow  of  his  noble  friend." 

The  master  of  the  school  hung  up  his  hat  and  took  his 
usual  place.  Then  he  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket. 

"  I  have  this  day  received     .     .     ." 

At  the  same  moment  the  vicar  put  his  hand  into  his 
pocket  and  began  in  the  same  words. 

"  I  have  this  day  received     .     .     ." 

Both  stopped.  "  I  interrupted  you,  Mr.  Pentecrosse," 
said  the  vicar. 

"Nay,  sir;  after  you." 

"  Let  us  not  stand  on  ceremony,  Mr.  Pentecrosse.  What 
have  you  received  ?  " 

"  I  have  received  a  letter  from  London." 

"  Mine  is  from  Cambridge.  You  were  about  to  speak 
of  your  letter  ? " 

254 


THE  "SOCIETY"  AGAIN  255 

"  It  concerns  Sam  Sample,  once  my  pupil,  now  secretary 
to  the  Lord  Fylingdale,  who  has  his  quarters  overhead." 

u  What  does  your  correspondent  tell  you  about  Sam  ? 
That  he  is  the  equal  of  Mr.  Pope  and  the  superior  to  Mr. 
Addison,  or  that  his  verses  are  echoes — sound  without  sense 
— trash  and  pretence  ?  Though  they  cost  me  a  guinea." 

"  The  letter  is  a  reply  I  addressed  to  my  cousin,  Zackary 
Pentecrosse,  a  bookseller  in  Little  Britain.  I  asked  him  to 
tell  me  if  he  could  learn  something  of  the  present  position 
and  reputation  of  Sam  Semple,  who  gives  himself,  I  under- 
stand, great  airs  at  the  coffee  house  as  a  wit  of  the  first 
standing  and  an  authority  in  matters  of  taste.  With  your 
permission  I  will  proceed  to  read  aloud  the  portion  which 
concerns  our  poet.  Here  is  the  passage." 

"  You  ask  me  to  tell  you  what  I  know  of  the  poet  Sam 
Semple.  I  do  not  know,  it  is  true,  all  the  wits  and  poets ; 
but  I  know  some,  and  they  know  others,  so  one  can  learn 
something  about  all  those  who  frequent  Dolly's  and  the 
Chapter  House,  and  the  other  coffee  houses  frequented  by  the 
poets.  None  of  them,  at  first,  knew  or  had  heard  of  the 
name.  At  last  one  was  found  who  had  seen  a  volume  bear- 
ing this  name,  and  published  by  subscription.  'Sir,'  he 
said,  c  'tis  the  veriest  trash  ;  a  schoolboy  should  be  trounced 
for  writing  such  bad  verses.'  But,  I  asked  him,  4  He  is 
said  to  be  received  and  welcomed  by  the  wits.'  4  They 
must  be,'  he  replied,  4  the  wits  of  Wapping,  or  the  poets  of 
Turnagain  Lane.  The  man  is  not  known  anywhere.'  So 
with  this  I  had  to  be  contented  for  a  time.  Then  I  came 
across  one  who  knew  this  would-be  poet.  4 1  was  once  my- 
self,' he  said, <  at  my  last  guinea  when  I  met  Mr.  Samuel  Sem- 
ple. He  was  in  rags,  and  he  was  well-nigh  starving.  I  gave 
him  a  sixpenny  dinner  in  a  cellar,  where  I  myself  was  din- 
ing at  the  time.  He  told  me  that  he  had  spent  the  money 
subscribed  for  his  book,  instead  of  paying  the  printer;  that 
he  was  dunned  and  threatened  for  the  debt ;  that  if  he  was 
arrested,  he  must  go  the  fleet  or  to  one  of  the  compters ; 
that  he  must  then  go  to  the  common  side,  and  would  starve. 
In  a  word,  that  he  was  on  his  last  legs.  These  things  he 
told  me  with  tears,  for,  indeed,  cold  and  hunger — he  had 
no  lodging — had  brought  him  low.  After  he  had  eaten  his 
dinner  and  borrowed  a  shilling  he  went  away,  and  I  saw 


256  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

him  no  more  for  six  months,  when  I  met  him  in  Covent 
Garden.  He  was  now  dressed  in  broadcloth,  fat,  and  in 
good  ease.  At  first  he  refused  to  recognise  his  former 
companion  in  misery.  But  I  persisted.  He  then  told  me 
that  he  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  be  of  service  to  my 
Lord  Fylingdale,  into  whose  household  he  had  entered. 
He,  therefore,  defied  his  creditors,  and  stood  at  bed  and 
board  at  the  house  of  his  noble  patron.  Now,  sir,  it  is  very 
well  known  that  any  service  rendered  to  this  nobleman 
must  be  of  a  base  and  dishonourable  nature.  Such  is  the 
character  of  this  most  profligate  of  lords.  A  professed 
rake  and  a  most  notorious  gambler.  He  is  no  longer  ad- 
mitted into  the  society  of  those  of  his  own  rank ;  he  fre- 
quents hells  where  the  play  is  high,  but  the  players  are 
doubtful.  He  is  said  to  entertain  decoys,  one  of  whom  is  an 
old  ruined  gamester,  named  Sir  Harry  Malyns,  and  another, 
a  half-pay  captain,  a  bully  and  a  sharper,  who  calls  himself 
a  colonel.  He  is  to  be  seen  at  the  house  of  the  Lady  An- 
astasia,  the  most  notorious  woman  in  London,  who  every 
night  keeps  the  bank  at  hazard  for  the  profit  of  this  noble 
lord  and  his  confederates.  It  is  in  the  service  of  such  a 
man  that  Mr.  Semple  has  found  a  refuge.  What  he  fulfills 
in  the  way  of  duty  I  know  not.'  I  give  you,  cousin,  the 
words  of  my  informant.  I  have  since  inquired  of  others, 
and  I  find  confirmation  everywhere  of  the  notorious  char- 
acter of  Lord  Fylingdale  and  his  companions.  Nor  can  I 
understand  what  service  a  poet  can  render  to  a  man  of  such 
a  reputation  living  such  a  life." 

"  Do  you  follow,  sir  ?  "  my  father  asked,  laying  down  the 
letter,  "  or  shall  I  read  it  again  ?  " 

"Nay,  the  words  are  plain.  But,  Mr.  Pentecrosse,  they 
are  serious  words.  They  concern  very  deeply  a  certain 
lady  whom  we  love.  Lord  Fylingdale  has  been  with  us  for 
a  month.  He  bears  a  character,  here,  at  least,  of  the  high- 
est kind.  It  is  reported,  I  know  not  with  what  truth,  that 
he  is  actually  to  marry  the  captain's  ward,  Molly.  There  is, 
however,  no  doubt  that  Molly's  fortune  has  grown  so  large 
as  to  make  her  a  match  for  any  one,  however  highly  placed." 

"  I  fear  that  it  is  true." 

"  Then,  what  foundation  has  this  gentleman  for  so  scan- 
dalous a  report  ? " 


THE  "SOCIETY"  AGAIN  257 

"  Indeed,  I  do  not  know.  My  cousin,  the  book- 
seller, expressly  says  that  he  has  no  knowledge  of  Sam 
Semple." 

"  Mr.  Pentecrosse,  I  am  uneasy.  I  hear  that  the  gentle- 
men of  the  company  are  circulating  ugly  rumours  about  one 
Colonel  Lanyon,  who  has  been  playing  high  and  has  won 
large  sums — larger  than  any  of  the  company  can  afford  to 
lose.  They  have  resolved  to  demand  and  await  explanations. 
There  are  whispers  also  which  concern  Lord  Fylingdale  as 
well.  These  things  make  one  suspicious.  Then  I  also 
have  received  a  letter.  It  is  in  reply  to  one  of  my  own 
addressed  to  an  old  friend  at  Cambridge.  My  questions  re- 
ferred to  the  great  scholar  and  eminent  divine  who  takes 
Greek  for  Hebrew. 

"You  ask  me  if  I  know  anything  about  one  Benjamin 
Purdon,  clerk  in  Holy  Orders.  There  can  hardly  be  two 
persons  of  that  name,  both  in  Holy  Orders.  The  man  whom 
I  know  by  repute  is  a  person  of  somewhat  slight  stature,  his 
head  bigger  than  befits  his  height.  He  hath  a  loud  and 
hectoring  voice ;  he  assumes,  to  suit  his  own  purposes,  the 
possession  of  learning  and  piety.  Of  theological  learning 
he  has  none,  so  far  as  I  know.  Of  Greek  art,  combined 
with  modern  manners,  he  is  said  to  be  a  master.  c  Inglese 
Italianato  Dlavolo  Incarnato '  is  the  proverb.  He  was  for- 
merly tutor  on  the  grand  tour  to  the  young  Lord  Fylingdale, 
whom  he  led  into  those  ways  of  corruption  and  profligacy 
which  have  made  that  nobleman  notorious.  He  is  also  the 
reputed  author  of  certain  ribald  verses  that  pass  from  hand 
to  hand  among  the  baser  sort  of  our  university  scholars.  I 
have  made  inquiries  about  him,  with  these  results.  It  is 
said  that  where  Lord  Fylingdale  is  found  this  worthy  eccle- 
siastic is  not  far  off.  There  was  last  year  a  scandal  at  Bath, 
in  which  his  name  was  mentioned  freely.  There  was  also — 
but  this  is  enough  for  one  letter !  " 

The  vicar  read  parts  of  this  letter  twice  over,  so  as  to 
lend  the  words  greater  force.  "  The  man  says  publicly  that 
he  was  tutor  to  Lord  Fylingdale  on  the  grand  tour.  I  have 
myself  heard  him.  On  one  occasion  he  proclaimed  with 
loud  voice  the  private  virtues  of  his  patron.  Sir,  I  very 
much  fear  that  we  have  discovered  a  nest  of  villains.  Pray 
God  we  be  not  too  late." 


258  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Amen,"  said  my  father.     "  But  what  can  we  do  ?  " 

"  Ay,  what  can  we  do  ?  To  denounce  Lord  Fylingdale 
on  this  evidence  would  be  impossible.  To  allow  this  mar- 
riage to  take  place  without  warning  the  captain  would  be  a 
most  wicked  thing." 

"  Let  us  send  for  Jack,"  said  my  father.  "  The  boy  is 
only  a  simple  sailor,  but  he  loves  the  girl.  He  will  now  be 
aboard  his  ship." 

It  is  not  far  from  the  "  Crown  "  to  the  quay,  nor  from 
the  quay  to  any  of  the  ships  in  port.  I  was  sitting  in  the 
cabin,  melancholy  enough,  about  eight  o'clock  or  so,  just 
before  the  sunset  gun  fired  from  the  redoubt,  when  I  heard 
a  shout — "  Lady  of  Lynn,  ahoy  !  "  You  may  be  sure  that 
I  obeyed  the  summons  with  alacrity. 

No  one  else  had  yet  arrived  at  the  "  Crown."  The  vicar 
laid  both  letters  before  me.  Then,  as  when  one  strikes  a 
spark  in  the  tinder  and  the  match  ignites,  flaming  up,  and 
the  darkness  vanishes,  so  did  the  scheme  of  villainy  unfold 
itself — not  all  at  once — one  does  not  at  one  glance  compre- 
hend a  conspiracy  so  vile.  But  part,  I  say,  I  did  under- 
stand. 

11  Sir,"  I  gasped.  "  This  is  more  opportune  than  you 
suspect.  To-morrow  morning — at  six — at  St.  Nicholas 
Church  they  are  to  be  married  secretly.  Oh  !  a  gambler — 
a  rake — one  who  has  wasted  his  patrimony— to  marry 
Molly,  our  Molly  !  Sir,  you  will  interfere — you  will  do 
something.  It  is  the  villain  Sam  j  he  was  always  a  liar — a 
cur — a  villain." 

"  Steady,  boy,  steady  !  "  said  my  father.  "  It  helps  not 
to  call  names." 

"  It  is  partly  revenge.  He  dared  to  make  love  to  Molly 
three  years  ago.  The  captain  cudgelled  him  handsomely 
— and  I  was  there  to  see.  It  is  revenge  in  part.  He  hath 
brought  down  this  noble  lord  to  marry  an  heiress  knowing 
the  misery  he  is  preparing  for  her.  Oh  !  Sam — if  I  had 
thee  here ! " 

"  Steady,  boy,"  said  my  father  again. 

"  Who  spread  abroad  the  many  virtues  of  this  noble 
villain  ?  Sam  Semple — in  his  service — a  most  base  and 
dishonourable  service.  Mr.  Purdon,  the  man  who  writes 
ribald  verses."  I  thought  of  the  Lady  Anastasia,  but  re- 


THE  "  SOCIETY  "  AGAIN  259 

frained.  She  at  least  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  marriage. 
So  far,  however,  there  was  much  explained. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ?  " 

"  We  must  prevent  the  marriage  of  to-morrow.  The 
captain  knows  nothing  of  it.  Lord  Fylingdale  persuaded 
Molly.  He  cannot  marry  her  publicly  because  he  says 
that  he  cannot  join  a  wedding  feast  with  people  so  much 
below  him.  Molly  shall  not  keep  that  engagement  if  I 
have  to  lock  the  door  and  keep  the  key." 

"  Better  than  that,  Jack,"  said  the  vicar.  "  Take  these 
two  letters.  Show  them  to  Molly  and  ask  her  to  wait 
while  the  captain  makes  inquiries.  If  Lord  Fylingdale  is 
an  honourable  man  he  will  court  inquiry.  If  not,  then  we 
are  well  rid  of  a  noble  knave." 

I  took  the  letters  and  ran  across  the  empty  market-place. 
On  my  way  I  saw  the  captain.  He  was  walking  towards 
the  "  Crown  "  with  hanging  head.  Let  us  first  deal  with 
him. 

He  did  not  observe  me,  being  in  gloomy  meditation,  but 
passed  me  by  unnoticed,  entered  the  "  Crown,"  hung  up 
his  hat  on  its  usual  peg,  and  put  his  stick  in  its  accustomed 
corner.  Then  he  took  his  seat  and  looked  round. 

"  I  am  glad,"  he  said,  "  that  there  are  none  present  ex- 
cept you  two.  My  friends,  I  am  heavy  at  heart." 

"  So  are  we,"  said  the  vicar.     "  But  go  on,  captain." 

"  You  have  heard,  perhaps,  a  rumour  of  what  has  been 
arranged." 

"  There  are  rumours  of  many  kinds.  The  place  is  full 
of  rumours.  It  is  rumoured  that  a  certain  Colonel  Lanyon 
is  a  sharper.  It  is  also  rumoured  that  Sam  Semple  is  a 
villain.  It  is  further  rumoured  that  the  Reverend  Benja- 
min Purdon  is  a  disgrace  to  the  cloth.  And  there  is  yet 
another  rumour.  What  is  your  rumour,  captain  ?  " 

"  Lord  Fylingdale  proposes  to  marry  Molly.  And  I  have 
accepted.  And  she  has  accepted.  But  it  was  to  be  a  pro- 
found secret." 

"  It  is  so  profound  a  secret  that  the  company  at  the 
gardens  this  evening  are  talking  about  nothing  else." 

The  captain  groaned.  "  I  have  received  a  letter,"  he 
said.  "  I  do  not  believe  it,  but  the  contents  are  disquiet- 
ing. There  is  no  signature.  Read  it." 


26o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

The  vicar  read  it : 

"  CAPTAIN  CROWLE, — Sir, — You  are  a  very  simple  old  man  ;  you 
are  so  ignorant  of  London  and  of  the  fashionable  world  that  you  do 
not  even  know  that  Lord  Fylingdale,  to  whom  you  are  about  to 
give  your  ward,  is  the  most  notorious  gambler,  rake,  and  profligate 
in  the  whole  of  that  quarter  where  the  people  of  fashion  and  of 
quality  carry  on  their  profligate  lives.  In  the  interests  of  innocence 
and  virtue  make  some  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  this  statement  before 
laying  your  lovely  ward  in  the  arms  of  the  villain  who  has  come  to 
Lynn  with  no  other  object  than  to  secure  her  fortune." 

"  It  is  an  anonymous  letter,"  said  the  vicar.  "  But  there 
is  something  to  be  said  in  support  of  it.  From  what  source 
did  you  derive  your  belief  in  the  virtues  of  this  young 
nobleman  ? " 

"  From  Sam  Semple." 

"Who  is  in  the  service  of  his  lordship.  I  know  not 
what  he  does  for  him,  but  if  he  is  turned  out  of  that  service 
he  will  infallibly  be  clapped  into  a  debtor's  prison." 

"  There  is  also  that  grave  and  reverend  divine " 

"  The  man  Purdon.  He  is  notorious  for  writing  ribald 
verses,  and  for  leading  a  life  that  is  a  disgrace  to  his  pro- 
fession." 

"  There  is  also  the  Lady  Anastasia." 

"  I  know  nothing  about  her  ladyship,  except  that  she  keeps 
the  bank,  as  they  call  it,  every  evening,  and  that  the  gam- 
ing table  allures  many  to  their  destruction." 

"  My  friend,"  said  the  captain,  "  what  am  I  to  do  ?  " 

"You  must  make  inquiry.  You  must  tell  Lord  Fylingdale 
that  things  have  been  brought  to  you ;  that  you  cannot  be- 
lieve them — if,  as  is  possible,  you  do  not;  but  that  you 
must  make  inquiries  before  trusting  your  ward  to  his  pro- 
tection. You  are  her  guardian,  captain." 

"  I  am  more  than  her  guardian ;  I  love  her  better  than  if 
she  was  my  own  child." 

"  We  know  you  do,  captain.  Therefore,  write  a  letter 
to  him  instantly.  There  is  yet  time  to  prevent  the  mar- 
riage. Tell  him  these  things.  Say  that  you  must  have 
time  to  make  these  inquiries.  I  will  help  you  with  the 
letter.  And  tell  him,  as  well,  that  you  must  have  time  to 
draw  up  settlements.  If  he  is  honest,  he  will  consent  to 


THE  "SOCIETY"  AGAIN  261 

this  investigation  into  his  private  character.  If  he  wants 
Molly,  and  not  her  money  bag,  he  will  at  once  agree  to  the 
settlement  of  her  fortune  upon  herself." 

"  I  am  an  old  fool,  I  suppose,"  said  the  captain.  "  I 
have  believed  everything  and  everybody.  Yet  I  cannot — 
no,  my  friends,  I  cannot  think  that  this  man,  so  proud,  so 
brave,  who  risked  his  life  for  Molly,  is  what  this  letter 
says." 

"  Other  letters  say  the  same  thing.  Now,  captain,  let 
us  write." 

The  letter,  which  was  dictated  by  the  vicar,  was  duly 
written,  signed,  and  sealed.  Then  it  was  sent  upstairs, 
without  the  delay  of  a  moment,  to  his  lordship's  private 
room. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

A    RESPITE 

I  WAS  as  one  who  carries  a  respite  for  a  man  already  in 
the  cart  and  on  his  way  to  Tyburn  j  or  I  was  one  who 
himself  receives  a  respite  on  the  way  to  Tyburn.  For,  if 
the  charges  in  those  letters  were  true,  there  could  be  no 
doubt  as  to  the  results  of  an  inquiry.  Now  could  there  be 
any  doubt  that  Lord  Fylingdale,  in  such  a  case,  would  re- 
fuse an  inquiry  ?  I  ran,  therefore,  as  if  everything  de- 
pended on  my  speed,  and  I  arrived  breathless. 

Molly  was  alone  walking  about  the  garden  restlessly. 
The  sun  was  now  set,  but  the  glow  of  the  sky  lingered, 
and  her  face  was  flushed  in  the  western  light.  "  Jack," 
she  cried,  "I  thought  we  had  parted  this  afternoon.  What 
has  happened  ?  You  have  been  running.  What  is  it  ?  " 

"  A  good  deal  has  happened,  Molly.  For  one  thing, 
you  will  not  be  married  to-morrow  morning." 

"  Why  not  ?     Is  my  lord  ill  ?  " 

.    "  Not  that  I  know  of.     But  you  will  not  be  married  to- 
morrow morning." 

"  You  talk  in  riddles,  Jack." 

"Would  you  like  to  put  off"  the  wedding,  Molly  ?  " 

"  Alas  !  If  I  could  put  it  off  altogether  !  I  am  down- 
hearted over  it,  Jack.  It  weighs  me  down  like  lead.  But 
there  is  no  escape." 

"  I  think  I  have  in  my  pocket  a  means  of  escape — a  res- 
pite, at  least — unless  there  are  worse  liars  in  the  world 
than  those  we  have  at  Lynn." 

"Liars  at  Lynn,  Jack?  Who  are  they?  Oh,  Jack, 
what  has  happened  ?  " 

I  sat  down  on  a  garden  bench.  "  Molly,"  I  said,  "  you 
hold  the  private  character  of  Lord  Fylingdale  in  the  highest 
esteem,  do  you  not  ?  " 

"There  is  no  better  man  living.  This  makes  me 
ashamed  of  being  so  loath  to  marry  him." 

262 


A  RESPITE  263 

"  Well,  but,  Molly,  consider.  Who  hath  bestowed  this 
fine  character  upon  his  lordship  ?  " 

"  Everybody  who  knows  him — Sam  Semple,  for  one. 
He  is  never  weary  of  singing  the  praises  of  his  patron." 

"  He  is  a  grateful  soul,  and,  on  his  own  account,  a  pillar 
of  truth.  I  will  show  you  presently  what  an  ornament  he 
is  to  truth.  Who  else  ? "' 

"The  Reverend  Benjamin  Purdon,  once  his  tutor. 
Surely  he  ought  to  know." 

"  Surely.  Nobody  ought  to  know  better.  I  will  show 
you  presently  how  admirable  a  witness  to  character  this 
reverend  divine  must  be  esteemed." 

"  There  is  Sir  Harry  Malyns,  who  assured  us  that  his 
lordship  is  thought  to  be  too  virtuous  for  the  world  of 
fashion." 

"  He  is  himself,  like  the  parson,  a  fine  judge  of  charac- 
ter. Is  that  all  ?  " 

"  No.  The  Lady  Anastasia  herself  spoke  to  me  of  his 
nobility." 

"  She  has  also  spoken  to  me — of  other  things.  See  here, 
Molly."  I  lugged  out  the  two  letters.  "What  I  have 
here  contains  the  characters  of  all  these  excellent  persons ; 
the  latest  scandals  about  them,  their  reputation,  and  their 
practices." 

"  But,  Jack,  what  scandals  ?     What  reputations  ? " 

"You  shall  see,  Molly.  Oh,  the  allegations  may  be 
false,  one  and  all !  For  what  I  know,  Sam  may  have  the 
wings  of  an  archangel  and  Mr.  Purdon  may  be  already 
overripe  for  the  New  Jerusalem.  But  you  shall  read." 

I  offered  her  the  letters.  "  No,"  she  said  ;  "  read  them 
yourself." 

"  The  first,  then,  is  from  my  father's  first  cousin,  Zackary 
Pentecrosse,  a  bookseller  in  Little  Britain,  which  is  a  part 
of  London.  He  is,  I  believe,  a  respectable,  God-fearing 
man.  You  will  observe  that  he  does  not  vouch  for  the 
truth  of  his  information." 

I  then  read,  at  length,  the  letter  which  you  have  already 
heard. 

"  What  do  you  think,  Molly  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  think.    Is  the  world  so  wicked  ?  " 

"  Here  is  another  letter  concerning  the  Reverend  Ben- 


264  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

jamin  Purdon.  Observe  that  this  is  another  and  an  inde- 
pendent witness."  So  I  read  the  second  letter,  which  you 
have  also  heard. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  this  worthy  gentleman,  Molly  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Jack,  I  am  overwhelmed  !  Tell  me  more  what 
it  means." 

"  It  means,  my  dear,  that  a  ruined  gamester  thought  to 
find  an  heiress  who  would  know  nothing  of  his  tarnished 
reputation.  She  must  be  rich.  All  he  wanted  was  her 
money.  She  must  not  have  her  money  tied  up.  It  must 
be  all  in  his  own  hands,  to  do  with  it  what  he  chose;  that 
is  to  say,  to  dissipate  and  waste  it  in  riot  and  raking  and 
gambling." 

"  Lord  Fylingdale  ?  Jack !  Think  of  his  face  !  Think 
of  his  manners !  Are  they  such  as  you  would  expect  in  a 
rake  ? " 

"There  are,  perhaps,  different  kinds  of  rakes.  Tom 
Rising  would  spend  the  night  drinking  and  bawling  songs. 
Another  kind  would  practice  wickedness  as  eagerly,  but 
with  more  politeness.  What  do  I  know  of  such  men  ? 
Certain  I  am  that  Lord  Fylingdale  would  not  scour  the 
streets  and  play  the  Mohock;  but  that  he  has  found  other 
vices  more  pleasant  and  more  (apparently)  polite  is  quite 
possible." 

"  I  don't  understand,  Jack.  All  the  gentlemen,  like  Mr. 
Rising,  drink  and  sing.  Do  all  gentlemen  who  do  not 
drink  practice  other  vices  ?  " 

I  think  that  I  must  have  learned  the  wisdom  of  what 
followed  from  some  book. 

"  Well,  Molly,  you  have  seen  the  vicar  taste  a  glass  of 
wine.  He  will  roll  it  in  the  glass ;  he  will  hold  it  to  the 
light,  admiring  the  colour;  he  will  inhale  the  fragrance ; 
he  will  drink  it  slowly,  little  by  little,  sipping  the  contents, 
and  he  will  not  take  more  than  a  single  glass  or  two  at  the 
most.  In  the  same  time,  Tom  Rising  would  have  gulped 
down  a  whole  bottle.  One  man  wants  to  gratify  many 
senses;  the  other  seeks  only  to  get  drunk  as  quickly  as  he 
can.  So,  I  take  it,  with  the  forbidden  pleasures  of  the 
world.  One  man  may  cultivate  his  taste;  the  other  may 
be  satisfied  with  the  coarse  and  plentiful  debauchery.  This 
is  not,  however,  talk  for  honest  folk  like  you  and  me." 


A  RESPITE  265 

"  Go  on  with  your  story,  Jack.  Never  mind  the  differ- 
ent ways  of  wickedness." 

"  Well,  he  heard  of  an  heiress.  She  belonged  to  a  town 
remote  from  fashion;  a  town  of  simple  merchants  and 
sailors ;  she  was  very  rich ;  much  richer  than  he  at  first 
believed." 

"  Who  told  him  about  this  heiress  ?  " 

"  A  creature  called  Sam  Semple,  whom  the  captain  once 
cudgelled.  Why,  Molly,  it  was  revenge.  In  return  for 
the  cudgelling  he  would  place  you  and  your  fortune  in  the 
hands  of  a  man  who  would  bring  misery  upon  you  and 
ruin  on  your  fortune.  Heavens,  how  the  thing  works  out ! 
And  it  happened  just  in  the  nick  of  time  that  a  spring  was 
found  in  the  town — a  spring  whose  medicinal  properties 

.  Ha  !  "  I  jumped  to  my  feet.  "  Molly,  who  found 

that  spring  ?  Sam  Semple.  Who  wrote  to  the  doctor 
about  it  ?  Sam  Semple.  Who  spread  abroad  a  report 
that  the  physicians  of  London  were  sending  their  patients 
to  Lynn  ?  Sam  Semple.  How  many  patients  have  come 
to  us  from  London  ?  None — save  and  except  only  the 
party  of  those  who  came  secretly  in  his  lordship's  train — 
to  sing  his  praises  and  work  his  wicked  will.  Why, 
Molly."  I  burst  into  a  laugh,  for  now  I  understood,  as 
one  sometimes  does  understand,  suddenly  and  without 
proof  other  than  the  rapid  conclusion,  the  full  meaning  of 
the  whole.  "  Molly,  I  say,  there  has  never  been  any  me- 
dicinal spring  here  at  all ;  the  doctor's  well  is  but  common 
spring  water ;  there  are  no  cures ;  the  whole  business  is  a 
plan — a  bite — an  invention  of  Sam  Semple  !  " 

"  Jack ;  have  a  care.  How  can  that  be,  when  the  doc- 
tor has  a  long  list  of  cures  ?  " 

"  I  know  not.  But  I  do  know  that  Sam  Semple  in- 
vented the  spa  in  order  to  bring  down  this  invasion  of 
sharpers  and  gamblers  and  heiress  hunters.  Oh,  what  a 
liar  he  is  !  What  revenge  !  What  cunning  !  What  sig- 
nal service  has  this  servant  of  the  devil  rendered  to  his 
master  ! " 

Truly,  I  was  carried  out  of  myself  by  this  discovery 
which  explained  everything. 

"  So,"  I  went  on, "  they  came  here  all  the  way  from 
London,  their  lying  excuse  that  they  were  ordered  here  by 


266  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

their  physicians,  and  we,  poor  simple  folk,  fell  into  the 
snare ;  all  the  country  side  fell  into  the  snare,  and  we  have 
been  fooled  into  drinking  common  water  and  calling  it 
what  you  please ;  and  we  have  built  gardens  and  engaged 
musicians,  and  created  a  spa,  and — oh,  Lord  !  Lord  !  what 
a  liar  he  is !  What  a  liar !  This  comes,  I  suppose,  of 
being  a  poet !  " 

Then  Molly  laid  her  hand  upon  my  arm.  "  Jack,"  she 
said,  very  seriously,  "  do  you  really  believe  this  story  ? 
Only  consider  what  it  means  to  me."  Molly  was  more 
concerned  about  Lord  Fylingdale  than  about  Sam  Semple. 

"  I  believe  every  word  of  it,  Molly.  I  believe  that  they 
have  all  joined  in  the  conspiracy — more  or  less ;  that  they 
have  all  got  promises ;  and  that  to-morrow  morning,  if 
you  do  not  refuse  to  meet  this  man  in  St.  Nicholas  Church, 
you  will  bring  upon  yourself  nothing  but  misery  and 
ruin." 

"  I  have  promised  to  meet  him.  I  must  at  least  send 
him  a  message,  if  only  to  say  that  I  shall  not  come." 

"  I  should  like  to  send  him  nothing.  But  you  are  right. 
It  is  best  to  be  courteous.  Well,  you  may  send  him  a 
letter.  I  will  myself  take  it  to  the  c  Crown.'  " 

"  But  afterwards,  Jack.  What  shall  we  do  afterwards  ? 
If  he  is  innocent  he  will  take  offence.  If  not " 

"  If  you  were  engaged  to  marry  a  young  merchant, 
Molly ,  or  to  a  skipper,  and  you  heard  rumours  of  bank- 
ruptcy, drink,  or  evil  courses,  what  would  you  do  ?  " 

"  I  would  tell  him  that  I  had  heard  such  and  such  about 
him  and  I  should  ask  for  explanations." 

"  Then  do  exactly  the  same  with  Lord  Fylingdale.  He 
is  accused  of  certain  things.  The  captain  must  make 
inquiry — he  is  bound  to  inquire.  Why,  the  vicar  himself 
says  that  he  would,  if  necessary,  in  order  to  ascertain  the 
truth,  travel  all  the  way  to  London,  there  to  learn  the 
foundations,  if  any,  for  these  charges,  and  afterwards  into 
Gloucestershire,  where  his  country  mansion  stands,  to 
learn  on  the  spot  what  the  tenants  and  the  people  of  the 
country  know  of  him." 

"  But  suppose  he  refuses  explanations.  He  is  too  proud 
to  be  called  to  account." 

"Then  send  him  packing.     Lord  or  no   lord,  proud  or 


A  RESPITE  267 

humble.  If  he  furnishes  explanations — if  these  things 
are  untrue — then — why,  then,  you  will  consider  what  to 
do.  But,  Molly,  I  do  not  believe  that  any  explanations 
will  be  forthcoming,  and  that  your  noble  lover  will  carry  it 
off  to  the  end  with  the  same  lofty  pride  and  cold  mien." 

"  Let  us  go  into  the  parlour,  Jack.  There  are  the  cap- 
tain's writing  materials.  Help  me  to  say  what  is  proper. 
Oh  !  is  it  possible  ?  Can  I  believe  it  ?  Are  these  things 
true  ?  That  proud  man  raised  above  his  fellows  by  his 
virtues  and  his  rank  and  his  principles.  Jack,  he  risked  his 
life  for  me." 

"  Ask  no  more  questions,  Molly.  We  must  have  expla- 
nations. Let  us  write  the  letter." 

It  was  Molly's  first  letter;  the  only  letter,  perhaps,  that 
she  will  ever  write  in  all  her  life.  Certainly  she  had  never 
written  one  before,  nor  has  she  ever  written  one  since. 
Like  most  housewives,  her  writing  is  only  wanted  for 
household  accounts,  receipts  for  puddings  and  pies,  and  the 
labelling  of  her  bottles  and  jars.  I  have  the  letter  before 
me  at  this  moment.  It  is  written  in  a  large  sprawling 
hand,  and  the  spelling  is  not  such  as  would  satisfy  my 
father. 

Naturally  she  looked  to  me  for  advice.  I  had  written 
many  letters  to  my  owners  and  to  foreign  merchants  about 
cargoes  and  the  like,  and  was  therefore  able  to  advise  the 
composition  of  a  letter  which  should  be  justly  expressed 
and  to  the  point. 


"  HONOURED  LORD, — This  is  from  me  at  the  present  moment  in 
my  guardian's  parlour.  [Writing  parlour,  you  see,  when  I  as  mate 
of  the  ship  should  have  written  port  or  harbour."]  It  is  to  inform 
you  that  intelligence  has  been  brought  by  letters  from  London  and 
Cambridge.  Touching  the  matters  referred  to  in  these  letters,  I 
have  to  report  for  your  satisfaction,  that  they  call  your  lordship  in 
round  terms,  a  gamester,  and  a  ruined  rake ;  and  your  companions 
at  the  spa,  viz,  Sam  Semple,  the  parson,  the  ricketty  old  beau, 
and  the  colonel,  simple  rogues,  common  cheats,  and  sharpers. 
Shall  not,  therefore,  meet  your  lordship  at  the  church  to-morrow 
morning  as  instructed.  Awaiting  your  lordship's  explanations  and 
commands. — Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

"  MOLLY." 


268  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

This  letter  I  folded,  sealed,  addressed,  and  dropped  into 
my  pocket.  Then  I  bade  Molly  good-night,  entreated  her 
to  be  thankful  for  her  escape,  and  so  left  her  with  a  light 
heart ;  verily  it  seemed  as  if  the  sadness  of  the  last  two 
months  had  been  wholly  and  suddenly  lifted.  On  my  way 
back  to  the  "  Crown  "  I  passed  the  Lady  Anastasia's  lodg- 
ing just  as  her  chair  was  brought  to  the  house.  I  opened 
the  door  for  her  and  stood  hat  in  hand. 

"  Why,  it  is  Jack,"  she  cried.  "  It  is  the  sailor  Jack — 
the  constant  lover.  Have  you  anything  more  to  tell  me  ?  " 

"  Only  that  Molly  will  not  keep  that  appointment  of 
to-morrow  morning." 

"  Oh  !  That  interesting  appointment  in  St.  Nicholas 
Church.  May  a  body  ask  why  the  ceremony  has  been 
postponed  ? " 

"  Things  have  been  disclosed  at  the  last  moment.  For- 
tunately, in  time." 

"  What  things,  and  by  whom  ?  " 

"  By  letter.  It  is  stated  as  a  fact  well  known  that  Lord 
Fylingdale  is  nothing  better  than  a  ruined  rake  and  a  no- 
torious gamester." 

"  Indeed  ?  The  excellent  Lord  Fylingdale  ?  Impos- 
sible !  Quite  impossible !  The  illustrious  example  of  so 
many  virtues !  The  explanations  will  be,  I  am  sure,  com- 
plete and  satisfactory.  Ruined  ?  A  rake  ?  A  notorious 
gamester  ?  What  next  will  the  world  say  ?  Does  his 
lordship  know  of  this  discovery  ?  Not  yet.  You  said  it 
was  a  discovery,  did  you  not  ?  Well,  my  friend,  I  am 
much  obliged  to  you  for  telling  me.  You  are  quite  sure 
Molly  will  not  be  there  ?  Very  good  of  you  to  tell  me. 
For  my  own  part  I  start  for  London  quite  early — at  five 
o'clock.  Good-bye,  Jack." 

Then  I  went  in  to  the  "  Crown,"  where  I  learned  that 
the  captain  had  been  reading  another  letter  containing  ac- 
cusations as  bad  as  those  in  the  other  two. 

So  we  fell  to  talking  over  the  business,  and  we  congratu- 
lated the  captain  that  he  had  sent  that  letter ;  and  we  re- 
solved that  he  should  refuse  to  receive  the  villain  Sam 
Semple ;  and  that  the  vicar  should,  if  necessary,  proceed 
to  London,  and  there  learn  what  he  could  concerning  the 
past  history  and  the  present  reputation  of  the  noble  suitor. 


A  RESPITE  269 

Meantime,  I  said  no  more  about  the  intended  marriage  at 
St.  Nicholas  Church  and  the  abandonment  of  the  plan. 
As  things  turned  out,  it  would  have  been  far  better  had  I 
told  the  captain  and  had  we  both  planted  ourselves  as 
sentinels  at  the  door,  so  as  to  be  quite  sure  that  Molly  did 
not  go  forth  at  six  in  the  morning. 

That  evening,  after  leaving  me,  Lady  Anastasia  sent  a 
note  to  Lord  Fylingdale.  "  I  am  leaving  Lynn  early  to- 
morrow morning.  I  expect  to  be  in  London  in  two  days. 
Shall  write  to  Molly." 


A    WEDDING 


I  ROWED  myself  aboard  that  evening  in  a  strange  con- 
dition of  exultation,  for  I  had  now  no  doubt — no  doubt  at 
all — that  the  charges  were  true,  and  that  a  conspiracy  of 
the  most  deadly  kind  was  not  only  discovered,  but  also 
checked.  And  I  could  not  but  admire  the  craft  and 
subtlety  displayed  by  the  favourite  of  the  Muses  in  devis- 
ing a  plan  by  which  it  was  made  possible  for  the  con- 
spirators to  come  all  together  without  the  least  suspicion  to 
the  town  of  Lynn.  How  else  could  they  come  ?  For 
reasons  political  ?  But  Lynn  is  a  borough  in  the  hands  of 
Sir  Robert  Walpole,  of  Houghton.  Nobody  could  stand 
against  him,  nor  could  any  one  in  Lord  Fylingdale's  rank 
visit  the  town  in  its  ordinary  condition  without  receiving 
an  invitation  to  Houghton  if  Sir  Robert  was  there.  Un- 
less, indeed,  there  were  reasons  why  he  should  not  be 
visited  or  received.  What  Sam  had  not  expected  was, 
without  doubt,  the  wonderful  success  of  his  deception ;  the 
eagerness  with  which  the  country  round  accepted  his  in- 
ventions ;  the  readiness  with  which  they  drank  those  inno- 
cent waters ;  the  miraculous  cures  effected  ;  and  the  trans- 
formation of  the  venerable  old  port  and  trading  town  into 
a  haunt  and  resort  of  fashion  and  the  pursuit  of  pleasure. 

Thinking  of  all  these  things,  and  in  blissful  anticipation 
of  the  discomfiture  of  all  the  conspirators,  there  was  an 
important  thing  that  I  quite  forgot,  namely,  to  send  Molly's 
letter  to  her  suitor  in  his  room  at  the  "  Crown."  I  carried 
the  letter  in  my  pocket.  I  undressed  and  lay  down  in  my 
bunk.  I  slept  with  a  light  heart,  dreaming  only  of  things 
pleasant,  until  the  morning,  when  the  earliest  stroke  of  the 
hammer  from  the  yard  and  the  quay  woke  me  up.  It  was 
then  half-past  five.  I  sat  up.  I  rubbed  my  eyes.  I  then 
suddenly  remembered  that  the  letter  was  in  my  pocket  still. 

It  was,  I  say,  half-past  five.  The  engagement  was  for 
2170 


A   WEDDING  271 

six  o'clock.  I  might  have  to  run,  yet,  to  stop  Lord  Fyling- 
dale. 

It  does  not  take  long  to  dress.  You  may  imagine  that  I 
did  not  spend  time  in  powdering  my  hair.  In  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  I  was  over  the  side  of  the  ship  and  in  my  dingey. 

By  the  clock  on  the  Common  Stathe  it  was  five  minutes 
to  six  when  I  landed  and  made  her  fast.  I  climbed  the 
stairs,  and  ran  as  fast  as  my  legs  could  carry  me  to  the 
"  Crown  Inn."  As  I  reached  the  door  the  clock  struck 
six.  Was  Lord  Fylingdale  in  his  room  ?  I  was  too  late. 
He  had  left  the  house  some  ten  minutes  before,  and  had 
been  carried  in  his  chair  across  the  market-place. 

I  followed.  It  was  already  five  minutes  past  the  hour. 
I  should  find  him  in  the  church,  chafing  at  the  delay.  I 
should  give  him  the  letter  and  retire. 

The  market-place  was  filled  with  the  market  people  and 
with  the  townspeople  who  came  to  buy.  I  pushed  across, 
stepping  over  a  basket,  and  jostled  by  a  woman  with  poultry 
and  vegetables.  It  was,  however,  seven  or  eight  minutes 
past  six  when  I  arrived  at  the  church ;  the  doors  of  the 
south  porch  were  open.  Within  I  heard  the  sound  of  voices 
— or,  at  least,  of  one  voice.  I  looked  in. 

Heavens  !  What  had  happened  ?  Not  only  was  I  late 
with  my  letter,  but — but — could  I  believe  my  eyes  ?  Molly 
herself  stood  before  the  altar;  facing  her  was  Lord  Fy- 
lingdale, who  held  her  hand.  Within  the  rails  stood  the 
Reverend  Benjamin  Purdon ;  beside  him,  the  clerk,  to 
make  the  responses.  And  the  minister,  when  I  arrived, 
was  actually  saying  the  words  which  the  bridegroom  re- 
peats after  the  minister,  completing  in  effect  the  marriage 
ceremony. 

"  I,  Ludovick,  take  thee,  Mary,  to  my  wedded  wife  .  .  ." 
and  so  on  according  to  the  form  prescribed.  And  again, 
the  words  beginning  — 

"With  this  ring  I  thee  wed.     .     .     ." 

I  stood  and  listened,  lost  in  wonder. 

Then  came  the  prayer  prescribed.  After  which  the 
clergyman  joined  their  hands  together,  saying  : — 

"  Those  whom  God  hath  joined  together  let  no  man  put 
asunder." 

I   heard  no  more.     I   sat  down  on  the  nearest  bench. 


272  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

What  was  the  meaning  of  this  sudden  change  ?  Remem- 
ber that  I  had  left  Molly  only  a  few  hours  before  this,  fully 
resolved  that  she  would  demand  an  inquiry  into  the  state- 
ments and  charges  made  in  the  two  letters ;  resolved  that 
she  would  not  keep  that  engagement;  her  admiration  for 
the  proud,  brave,  noble  creature,  her  lover,  turned  into 
loathing. 

And  now — now,  in  the  early  morning,  with  her  letter  in 
my  pocket  stating  her  change  of  purpose — I  found  her  at 
the  altar,  and  actually  married. 

"Whom  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder." 

What  if  the  man  Purdon  was  all  that  he  was  described  ? 
The  priestly  office  confers  rights  and  powers  which  are  in- 
dependent of  the  man  who  holds  that  office.  Whatever 
his  private  wickedness,  Purdon  was  a  clergyman,  and  there- 
fore he  could  marry  people. 

Molly  stood  before  the  altar  as  had  been  arranged ;  she 
wore  a  black  silk  domino ;  she  had  on  a  pink  silk  cloak 
with  a  hood  drawn  over  her  head,  so  that  she  was  quite 
covered  up  and  concealed.  But  I  knew  her  by  her  stature, 
which  was  taller  than  the  common,  and  by  the  dress,  which 
had  been  agreed  upon. 

Then  the  bridegroom  offered  his  hand  and  led  the 
bride  into  the  vestry.  They  were  to  sign  the  marriage 
register. 

And  here  I  rose  and  slunk  away.  I  say  that  I  slunk 
away.  If  you  like  it  better,  I  crawled  away,  for  I  was  sick 
at  heart.  The  thing  which  I  most  dreaded,  the  marriage 
of  our  girl  to  a  rake  and  a  gamester,  had  been  actually 
accomplished.  Misery  and  ruin  ;  misery  and  ruin  ;  misery 
and  ruin  would  be  her  lot.  And  in  my  pocket  was 
her  letter  asking  for  explanations — and  withdrawing  her 
promise  for  the  morrow !  Could  one  believe  one's 
senses  ? 

I  crawled  away,  ashamed  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  of 
the  girl  I  loved.  Women,  I  said  to  myself,  are  poor,  weak 
creatures.  They  believe  everything  ;  Lord  Fylingdale  must 
have  been  with  her  early.  He  had  but  to  deny  the  whole ; 
she  accepted  the  denial ;  despite  her  resolution  she  walked 
with  him  to  the  church  as  the  lamb  goes  to  the  shambles. 


A   WEDDING  273 

Oh,  Molly  !  Molly  !  Who  would  have  believed  it  of 
you  ? 

I  left  the  church  and  went  away.  I  thought  of  going  to 
the  captain;  of  telling  my  father;  of  telling  the  vicar;  but 
it  seemed  like  treachery,  and  I  refrained.  Instead,  I  walked 
back  to  the  quay,  and  paddled  to  the  ship,  where  presently 
the  barges  came  alongside  and  the  day's  work  began.  For- 
tunate it  is  for  a  man  that  at  moments  of  great  unhappiness 
his  work  has  to  be  done  and  he  is  desirous  to  put  aside  his 
sorrow  and  to  think  upon  his  duty.  But,  alas  !  Poor 
Molly  !  Who  could  have  believed  it  possible  ? 

Well,  you  see,  I  did  not  follow  this  wedding  to  an  end. 
Had  I  gone  into  the  vestry  I  should  have  been  witness  of 
something  very  unexpected.  Why,  had  not  the  Lady 
Anastasia — who,  I  now  understand,  was  tortured  by  jeal- 
ousy— promised  that  "  something  should  happen  "  ? 

The  clergyman  had  the  registers  lying  on  the  table  open. 
He  took  a  pen  and  filled  in  the  forms.  He  then  offered  the 
pen  to  the  bride. 

"  My  lady,"  he  said.  "  I  must  ask  your  ladyship  to  sign 
the  register.  In  duplicate,  if  you  please." 

The  bride  sat  down,  and  in  a  large  bold  hand  wrote  her 
name,  "  Mary  Miller." 

Then  the  bridegroom  took  the  pen  and  signed,  "  Fyling- 
dale." 

The  clergyman  sprinkled  the  pounce  box  over  the  names 
and  shut  up  the  books,  which  he  gave  to  the  clerk.  This 
officer  took  the  books  and  locked  them  in  the  great  trunk 
which  held  the  papers  and  books  of  the  church,  putting  the 
key  in  his  pocket. 

"  And  now,"  said  Mr.  Purdon,  "  let  me  congratulate  my 
noble  patron  and  the  newly  made  countess  on  this  auspicious 
event.  I  have  brought  with  me  a  bottle  of  the  finest  port 
the  c  Crown '  possesses,  and  I  venture  to  drink  health, 
happiness,  and  prosperity."  So  saying  he  produced  a  bottle 
and  glasses.  The  bride  without  saying  a  word  inclined  her 
head  to  the  bridegroom  and  drank  off  her  glass.  Lord 
Fylingdale,  who  looked,  if  one  may  say  so  of  a  bridegroom, 
peevish  and  ill  at  ease,  raised  his  glass.  "  To  your  happi- 
ness, Molly  !  "  he  said. 


274 


THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 


So,  all  was  finished.  "You  are  going  home,  Molly?" 
he  asked.  "  For  the  present.  That  is  to  say,  for  a  day  or 
two  it  will  be  best.  I  shall  claim  you  very  soon.  There 
is  no  one  but  ourselves  in  the  vestry,"  for  the  clerk,  having 
locked  the  box  and  accepted  the  guinea  bestowed  upon  him 
by  the  bridegroom,  was  now  tramping  down  the  church 
and  through  the  porch.  No  one  but  themselves  was  in  the 
vestry  or  the  church.  "You  may,  therefore,  take  off  your 
domino." 

"As  your  lordship  pleases."  Lord  Fylingdale  started. 
Whose  voice  was  that  ?  "  As  you  order,  I  obey."  So  the 
bride  removed  her  domino  and  threw  back  the  hood. 

The  bridegroom  started.  "What  is  this?"  he  cried 
furious,  with  certain  words  which  were  out  of  place  in  a 
church. 

"Lady  Anastasia!"  cried  Mr.  Purdon.  "Good  Lord! 
Then  we  are  all  undone  !  " 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?  Tell  me,  she  devil — what  does 
it  mean  ?  Where  is  Molly  ?  But  this  is  play  acting.  This 
is  not  a  marriage." 

"  I  fear,  my  lord,"  said  the  parson,  "  that  it  is  a  mar- 
riage. The  registers  are  in  the  strong  box.  They  cannot 
be  altered." 

"  Go  after  the  clerk,  man.  Order  him  to  give  up  the 
keys.  Tear  the  pages  out  of  the  registers." 

"  I  cannot,"  said  Mr.  Purdon.  "  I  dare  not.  The  man 
is  a  witness  of  this  marriage ;  he  has  seen  the  entry  in  the 
register.  I  dare  not  alter  them  or  destroy  a  single  page.  I 
have  done  a  great  deal  for  your  lordship,  but  this  thing  I 
cannot  do.  It  is  a  marriage,  I  say.  You  are  married  to 
the  Lady  Anastasia  here." 

"  Talk  !  talk  !  Go  after  the  man.  Bring  back  the  man. 
Tear  the  keys  from  him.  Silence  the  man  !  Buy  his 
silence !  Buy — I  will  murder  him,  if  I  must,  in  order  to 
stop  his  tongue." 

"Your  lordship  forgets  your  bride — your  happy,  smiling, 
innocent  bride  ! " 

He  cursed  her.  He  raised  his  hand  as  if  to  strike  her 
down,  but  forbore. 

"I  told  you,"  she  continued,  "that  in  everything  I  was 
at  your  service — except  in  one  thing.  Tear  the  registers ; 


WHAT    IS    THIS  ?       HE    CRIED    FURIOUS,  WITH   CERTAIN  WORDS  WHICH 
WERE   OUT  OF   PLACE   IN   A   CHURCH. 


A   WEDDING  275 

murder  the  clerk ;  but  the  bride  will  be  left.  And  if  you 
murder  her  as  well  you  will  be  no  nearer  the  possession  of 
the  lovely  Molly." 

The  bridegroom  sank  into  a  chair.  He  was  terrible  to 
look  at,  for  his  wrath  and  disappointment  deprived  him  of 
the  power  of  speech.  Where  was  now  the  cold  and  haughty 
front  ?  It  was  gone.  He  sat  in  the  chair,  upright,  his  face 
purple,  his  eyes  starting  from  his  head  as  one  who  hath  some 
kind  of  fit. 

The  clergyman,  still  in  his  white  surplice,  looked  on  and 
trembled,  for  his  old  pupil  was  in  a  murderous  frame  of 
mind.  There  was  no  knowing  whom  he  might  murder. 
Besides,  he  had  before  this  divined  the  true  meaning  of  the 
visit  to  Lynn  ;  and  he  foresaw  ruin  to  himself  as  well  as  his 
patron. 

Lord  Fylingdale  turned  upon  him  suddenly  and  cursed 
him  for  a  fool,  an  ass,  a  villain,  a  traitor.  "  You  are  in  the 
plot,"  he  said.  "  You  knew  all  along.  You  have  been 
suborned." 

"  My  lord — my  lord — have  patience.  What  could  I 
know  ?  I  was  bidden  to  be  here  at  six  to  marry  you.  I 
supposed  that  the  bride  was  the  fair  Miss  Molly.  I  could 
not  tell ;  I  knew  nothing.  The  lady  was  in  a  domino. 
It  is  irregular  to  be  married  in  a  domino.  But  your  lord- 
ship wished  it.  What  could  I  do  ?  " 

"  Send  for  the  key,  then,  and  destroy  the  registers." 

"  Alas  !  my  lord,  it  is  now,  you  may  be  sure,  all  over 
the  town  that  you  have  been  married,  and  to  Miss  Molly." 

"  Where  is  Molly  ?  Where  is  Molly,  then  ?  Why  did 
she  keep  away  ?  " 

The  bride  looked  on  with  her  mocking  smile  of  triumph. 
u  You  may  murder  me,"  she  said,  "  but  you  will  not  undo 
the  marriage.  I  have  been  married,  it  is  true,  under  a  false 
name ;  but  I  am  married  none  the  less." 

"You  have  brought  ruin  upon  us  all,"  her  husband  said. 
"  Ruin — headlong  ruin.  I  am  at  my  last  guinea.  I  can 
raise  no  more  money — I  have  no  more  credit.  You,  your- 
self, are  as  much  discredited." 

"  If  you  are  ruined,"  the  lady  replied,  "  you  are  rightly 
punished.  How  many  vows  have  you  made  to  me  ?  How 
many  lies  have  you  invented  to  keep  me  quiet  ?  " 


276  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  With  submission,  my  lord,"  Mr.  Purdon  stammered, 
for  terror  and  bewilderment  held  him,  "  this  is  a  bad  morn- 
ing's work.  Let  me  advise  that  before  the  town  is  awake 
we  leave  the  church  and  talk  over  the  business  in  her  lady- 
ship's rooms,  or  elsewhere.  We  must  be  private.  To 
curse  and  to  swear  helps  nothing  ;  nor  does  it  help  to  talk 
of  a  jealous  revenge.  Let  us  go." 

It  was  with  a  tottering  step,  as  if  he  was  smitten  with 
palsy,  that  the  bridegroom  walked  down  the  aisle.  The 
bride  put  up  her  domino,  and  threw  her  hood  over  her 
head,  and  so  with  the  parson,  in  silence,  walked  away  from 
the  church  to  her  lodging,  leaving  the  bridegroom  to  come 
by  himself. 

As  yet  the  market  people  had  not  heard  the  news. 

But  the  news  spread.  The  clerk  told  his  wife.  "  I 
come  from  the  church,"  he  said.  "  I  have  witnessed  the 
marriage  of  Miss  Molly — Captain  Crowle's  Molly — with 
the  noble  lord  who  wears  the  star  and  looks  so  grand — a 
private  wedding  it  was.  I  know  not  why.  The  parson 
was  the  Reverend  Mr.  Purdon,  he  who  reads  the  morning 
prayers  and  preaches  on  Sunday." 

Then  the  clerk's  wife,  slipping  on  her  apron — for  such 
folk  find  the  shelter  of  the  apron  for  their  hands  necessary 
in  conversation — ran  round  to  the  pump  room.  No  one 
was  there  as  yet,  but  the  two  dippers.  To  them  she  com- 
municated the  news. 

Then  she  went  on  to  the  market  and  told  all  the  people 
of  the  town  who  were  chaffering  there. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  captain,  walking  in  his  garden,  was 
surprised  by  the  arrival  of  the  horns,  who  stood  before  the 
house  and  performed  a  noble  flourish.  "  What  the  devil  is 
that  for  ? "  said  the  captain.  Then  there  arrived  the 
butchers,  with  their  marrowbones  and  cleavers,  and  began 
to  make  their  music  with  zeal.  The  captain  went  out  to 
them.  Up  went  their  hats. 

"  Huzza  for  Miss  Molly  and  her  husband." 

"  Her  husband  ?     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 
Her  husband — his  lordship — married  this  morning." 

"  What  ?  "  The  captain  stared  in  amazement.  Then 
he  rushed  into  the  house.  Molly  was  in  the  kitchen. 
"  What  is  this  ?  "  he  asked.  "  The  butchers  are  here  and 


A   WEDDING  277 

the  horns,  and  they  swear  you  were  married  this  morn- 
ing, Molly  ?  " 

"  Why,  captain,  I  have  not  been  outside  the  door.  I  am 
not  married,  I  assure  you,  and  I  begin  to  think,  now,  that 
I  never  shall  be  married." 

The  captain  went  out  and  dismissed  the  musicians.  But 
the  thing  troubled  him,  and  he  was  already  sick  at  heart  on 
account  of  the  last  night's  discourse  and  its  discoveries. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

A    NEW    COMPACT 

WHAT  followed,  by  invention  and  design  of  the  pious 
ecclesiastic,  Mr.  Purdon,  was  a  villainy  even  greater  than 
that  at  first  designed — more  daring,  more  cruel. 

The  bride,  accompanied  by  the  minister  officiating  in  the 
late  ceremony,  walked  back  to  her  lodging.  She  was  still 
exultant  in  the  first  glow  and  triumph  of  her  revenge. 
He,  on  the  other  hand,  walked  downcast,  stealthily  glan- 
cing at  his  companion,  his  big  head  moving  sideways  like 
the  head  of  a  bear,  his  sallow  cheeks  paler  than  was  cus- 
tomary. The  bridegroom,  for  his  part,  flung  himself  into 
his  chair,  and  so  was  carried  to  the  lady's  lodging.  A 
strange  wedding  procession  ! 

She  threw  off  her  cloak  and  her  domino,  and  stood  before 
her  newly-made  lord,  her  eyes  bright,  her  face  flushed,  her 
lips  quivering.  She  was  filled  with  revenge  only  half  sati- 
ated ;  but  revenge  can  never  be  wholly  satisfied ;  and  she 
was  filled  with  the  triumph  of  victory. 

"  I  have  won  !  "  she  said  ;  "  you  tried  to  deceive  me 
again,  Ludovick.  But  I  have  won.  You  have  been  caught 
in  your  own  toils." 

He  took  the  nearest  chair,  sitting  down  in  silence,  but 
his  face  was  dark.  As  she  looked  upon  him,  some  of  the 
triumph  died  out  of  her  eyes ;  her  cheek  lost  its  glow ;  she 
began  to  be  frightened.  What  would  he  say — or  do — 
next  ?  As  for  his  reverence,  he  stood  close  to  the  door  as 
if  ready  for  instant  flight.  Indeed,  there  was  cause  for 
uncertainty  because  the  man  was  desperate  and  his  sword 
was  at  his  side. 

"  Silence  !  "  he  said,  "  or  I  may  kill  you." 

Then  there  was  silence.  The  other  two  did  not  speak. 
The  lady  threw  herself  upon  the  sofa,  twisting  her  fingers 
nervously. 

278 


A  NEW  COMPACT  279 

"  You  have  married  me,  you  say.  You  shall  be  a  happy 
wife.  You  cannot  imagine  how  happy  you  will  be." 

In  a  contest  of  tongues  the  woman  has  the  best  of  it. 

"  So  long  as  you,  my  lord,  enjoy  the  same  happiness,  or 
even  greater,  I  shall  not  repine.  You  intended  my  happi- 
ness in  another  way." 

"  You  have  destroyed  my  last  chance.  It  is  a  good  be- 
ginning." 

"  A  better  ending,  my  lord.  The  fond  mistress  whom 
you  have  fooled  so  long  becomes  the  wife.  It  is  not  the 
duty  of  a  wife  to  provide  for  her  husband.  Nor  will  the 
Countess  of  Fylingdale  allow  the  Earl  to  enter  her  house. 
She  will  want  the  proceeds  of  her  bank  for  herself.  In  a 
word,  my  lord,  you  are  not  only  my  husband,  but  you  are 
now  privileged  to  provide  for  yourself." 

He  sprang  to  his  feet  and  fell  to  common  and  violent 
cursing,  invoking  the  immediate  and  miraculous  interven- 
tion of  that  Power  which  he  had  all  his  life  insulted  and 
defied.  The  lady  received  the  torrent  without  a  word ; 
what  can  one  say  in  reply  to  a  man  who  only  curses  ?  But 
she  was  afraid  of  him ;  his  words  were  like  blows ;  the 
headlong  rage  of  the  man  cowed  her;  she  bent  her  head 
and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

Then  Mr.  Purdon  ventured  to  interfere.  "Let  me 
speak,"  he  said.  "  The  thing  is  done.  It  cannot  be  un- 
done. Would  it  not  be  better  to  make  the  best  of  it  ? 
Does  it  help  any  of  us — does  it  help  your  lordship — to  re- 
vile and  to  threaten  ?  " 

The  bridegroom  turned  upon  him  savagely.  "  You  to 
speak  !  "  he  said.  "You,  who  are  too  mealy  mouthed  and 
too  virtuous  even  to  tear  up  a  page  from  a  register." 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  be  unfrocked,  or  to  be  sent  to  the 
plantations,  my  lord.  Meantime,  it  would  be  doing  you 
the  worst  service  in  the  world  if  I  were  to  tear  out  that 
page." 

"  Oh  !  you  talk — you  always  talk." 

"  Of  old,  my  lord,  I  have  sometimes  talked  to  some 
purpose." 

"  Talk  again,  then.  What  do  you  mean  by  disservice  ? 
You  will  say  next,  I  suppose,  that  this  play  acting  was 
fortunate  for  me." 


280  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  We  may  sometimes  turn  disasters  into  victories.  If 
your  lordship  will  listen " 

His  patron  sat  down  again — the  late  storm  leaving  its 
trace  in  a  scowling  face  and  twitching  lips. 

"  Why  the  devil  was  not  Molly  there  ?  How  did  this 
woman  find  out  ?  How  did  she  know  that  Molly  was  not 
coming  ?  " 

"  I  can  answer  these  questions,"  said  the  lady.  "  Molly 
would  not  come  because  she  learned  last  night,  just  in 
time,  certain  facts  in  the  private  life  of  the  bridegroom " 

"What?  "  Lord  Fylingdale  betrayed  his  terror.  "She 
has  heard  ?  What  has  she  heard  ?  "  He  had  not,  as  you 
have  heard,  received  Molly's  letter,  nor  had  he  opened  the 
captain's  letter.  Therefore,  he  knew  nothing. 

"  She  had  heard  more  than  enough.  You  have  lost  your 
bride  and  her  fortune.  I  might  have  warned  you,  but  I 
preferred  to  take  her  place." 

"What  has  she  heard?" 

"Apparently,  all  that  there  is  to  be  heard.  Not,  of 
course,  all  that  could  be  told  if  Mr.  Purdon  were  to  speak. 
Merely  things  of  public  notoriety.  That  you  are  a  gam- 
bler and  a  rake ;  that  you  have  ruined  many ;  that  you  are 
ruined  yourself.  Oh  !  Quite  enough  for  a  girl  of  her 
class  to  learn.  In  our  rank  we  want  much  more  before 
we  turn  our  back  upon  a  man.  I,  myself,  know  much 
more.  Yet  I  have  married  you." 

"She  has  heard — "  Lord  Fylingdale  repeated. 

"  Dear,  dear  !  "  said  the  parson.  "  All  this  is  most  un- 
fortunate— most  unfortunate.  Your  lordship  has  already 
lost  your  bride — lost  her,"  he  repeated ;  "  lost  her — and  her 
fortune.  Is  there  no  way  out  ?  " 

"  Who  brought  these  reports  ?     Show  me  the  man  !  " 

"  Ta-ta-ta !  You  need  not  bluster,  Ludovick.  Reports 
of  this  kind  are  in  the  air;  they  cling  to  your  name  ;  they 
travel  with  you.  What  ?  The  notorious  Lord  Fylingdale  ? 
They  have  come,  you  see,  at  last,  even  to  this  unfashion- 
able corner  of  the  island.  They  are  here,  although  we 
have  done  so  much  to  declare  your  virtues.  Acknowledge 
that  you  have  been  fortunate  so  far." 

"  Are  these  reports  your  doing,  madam  ?  Is  this  a  part 
of  your  infernal  jealousy  .' "" 


A  NEW  COMPACT  281 

"  I  do  not  know  who  put  them  about.  It  is  not  likely 
that  I  should  start  such  reports — especially  after  the  scandal 
at  Bath.  I  am,  in  fact,  like  his  reverence  here,  too  much 
involved  myself.  Oh  !  we  have  beautiful  characters — all 
three  of  us." 

"  Who  told  Molly  ?  " 

"I  say  that  I  know  nothing.  She  has  been  warned. 
That  is  all  I  can  tell  you,  and  she  has  been  advised  to  take 
no  further  steps  until  full  explanations  have  been  made  in 
answer  to  these  rumours." 

"  Full  explanations,"  repeated  Mr.  Purdon.  "  Dear, 
dear  !  Most  unfortunate  !  most  unfortunate  !  " 

"  Your  lordship  can  refer  to  his  reverence  here,  or  to  the 
admirable  Semple ;  or  to  the  immaculate  Sir  Harry ;  or  to 
the  colonel — that  man  of  nice  and  well-known  honour — 
for  your  character.  But  who  will  give  them  a  character  ? 
Understand,"  she  said,  facing  him,  "you  had  lost  your 
bride  before  you  got  out  of  bed  this  morning.  Your  only 
chance  now  is  to  imitate  the  example  of  Tom  Rising  and  to 
carry  her  off.  And  she  will  then  stick  a  knife  between  your 
ribs  as  she  intended  to  do  to  that  worthy  gentleman.  But 
no,  I  forgot,  you  cannot  do  that,  you  are  already  married." 

His  reverence  again  interposed.  "  With  submission,  my 
lord,  some  explanations  will  be  asked.  It  will  not,  cer- 
tainly, be  convenient  to  offer  any.  There  is,  however,  one 
way — and  only  one — that  I  can  suggest."  He  looked  at 
the  Lady  Anastasia.  u  It  will  be,  perhaps,  at  first,  distaste- 
ful to  her  ladyship.  It  has,  however,  the  very  great  ad- 
vantage of  securing  the  fortune,  which,  I  take  it,  is  what 
your  lordship  chiefly  desires.  As  regards  the  girl,  she  is  in 
point  of  manners  and  appearance  so  far  beneath  your  lord- 
ship's notice  that  we  need  not  consider  her  in  the  matter." 

"  I  care  nothing  about  the  girl,  but  hang  me  if  I  under- 
stand one  single  syllable  of  what  you  mean,  or  how  you 
can  secure  the  fortune  without  the  girl." 

41  It  is  not  always  necessary  to  carry  your  wife  about 
with  you.  She  might  be  left  with  her  friends.  A  marriage 
without  settlement  places,  I  believe,  a  woman's  fortune  ab- 
solutely in  the  hands  of  her  husband." 

Neither  of  his  listeners  made  the  least  sign  of  under- 
standing what  he  meant. 


2g2  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Strange  !  "  he  said.  "  I  should  have  thought  that  this 
way  would  have  been  seized  upon  immediately.  It  is  won- 
derful that  you  do  not  understand." 

"  Pray,  Mr.  Purdon,"  said  the  lady,  "  do  not  credit  me, 
at  least,  with  the  power  of  following  your  mind  in  all  its 
crookedness." 

"  Let  us  consider  the  situation.  I  was  somewhat  sur- 
prised when  your  lordship  instructed  me  to  come  to  this 
place.  Surprised  and  suspicious.  Naturally,  I  kept  my 
eyes  open.  I  very  soon  discovered  what  was  proposed. 
Here  was  a  girl  whom  Semple  had  represented  to  your  lord- 
ship as  a  great  heiress.  You  want  an  heiress  at  this  junc- 
ture. I  followed  the  course  of  events  with  satisfaction. 
You  were  civil  to  the  girl  when  all  the  company  trampled 
upon  her ;  you  were  affable  to  the  old  fool,  her  guardian ; 
you  made  private  and  personal  inquiry  into  her  fortune ; 
you  succeeded  in  representing  yourself  as  a  man  of  virtue 
and  high  principle — all  this  was  cleverly  managed.  But 
you  made  one  mistake.  You  concealed  your  true  inten- 
tions from  the  Lady  Anastasia." 

"It  was  her  infernal  jealousy.  Why  couldn't  she  let 
me  marry  the  girl  and  leave  her  in  Gloucestershire — out  of 
the  way  ? " 

"A  great  mistake.  I  thought  that  my  pupil  knew  the 
sex  better.  Jealousy,  my  lord,  supposes  love ;  and  love 
can  always  be  directed  into  the  other  channel  of  submission. 
Well,  the  marriage  was  arranged ;  you  had  already  taken 
the  precaution  of  getting  a  licence.  Then,  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, these  sinister  reports  began.  How  far  they  can  be 
explained  away — how  many  others  they  involve ;  how 
many  scandals  they  revive — we  know  not.  But  explana- 
tion— explanation — no,  no — that  would  be  the  devil !  " 

"  Go  on,  man.     You  talk  forever." 

u  Had  these  reports  been  delayed  but  a  single  day — had 
they  arrived  after  the  marriage." 

"  But  they  arrived  before  the  marriage." 

"Quite  so;  which  brings  me  to  my  proposal.  Here 
you  are — at  your  last  guinea.  So  am  I.  You  can  raise  no 
more  money.  If  I  were  not  your  domestic  chaplain  I 
should  be  in  the  King's  Bench.  I  have  lived  on  your 
bounty  for  ten  years  and  more.  I  hoped  to  go  on  with  the 


A  NEW  COMPACT  283 

same  support.  To  be  sure  I  have  earned  my  money.  I 
have  been  of  service  on  many  occasions,  but  I  am  grateful, 
and  I  would,  if  I  could,  for  the  sake  of  old  times,  assist 
your  lordship  on  this  occasion." 

u  I  want  all  the  assistance  I  can  get.  That  is  quite 
certain." 

"  And  I  want  all  the  money  I  can  get.  I  always  in- 
tended, somehow  or  other,  to  get  a  slice  of  this  pudding. 
If  I  put  it  into  your  lordship's  power  to  claim  and  to  seize 
upon  this  fortune,  which  seems  to  have  been  snatched  out 
of  your  hands  at  the  last  moment,  I  must  have  my  share." 

"Your  share  ?     What  do  you  call  your  share  ?  " 

"  Twelve  thousand  pounds." 

"  Twelve  thousand  devils  !  " 

"You  can  get  nothing  without  me.  If  you  refuse  I  can, 
at  least,  tell  everybody  the  pleasant  truth  about  this  morn- 
ing's work,  and  how  the  biter  was  bit." 

"  Go  on  with  your  proposal,  then." 

"  You  will  give  me  a  promise— a  bill,  if  you  like,  pay- 
able in  two  months — you  will  not  be  able  to  get  through  all 
that  money  in  two  months — for  twelve  thousand  pounds." 

"  It  is  a  monstrous  sum.  But,  on  condition  that  you 
place  this  girl's  fortune  in  my  hands — however,  it  is  im- 
possible. Well,  you  shall  have  my  promise — on  my  honour 
as  a  peer."  He  placed  his  right  hand  upon  his  heart. 

The  clergyman  grinned.  "  Your  lordship  gives  me  more 
than  I  dare  to  ask.  It  is  a  bill — a  written  document — not 
a  promise,  even  on  your  honour  as  a  peer.  Give  me  that 
and  I  will  show  you  the  way.  Stay — nothing  can  be  done 
without  me — I  will  tell  you  my  scheme  before  you  sign 
that  paper.  Now,  listen — you  had  already  lost  your  bride 
when  you  arrived  at  the  church.  Her  ladyship  most  for- 
tunately   " 

"  How,  sir,  most  fortunately  ?  " 

"  A  moment.  Madam  saw  her  way  to  the  revenge  of 
jealousy.  She  took  the  place  of  the  bride.  And  she  was 
married  as  Miss  Molly ;  she  signed  the  name  of  Molly 
Miller;  the  licence  was  in  that  name.  The  clerk  who  was 
present  has,  I  am  sure,  already  carried  the  news  all  over  the 
place.  We  have  the  evidence,  therefore,  of  the  bridegroom, 
the  parson,  the  clerk,  the  licence,  the  registers.  Who  is  to 


284  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

prove  that  the  real  Molly  was  at  home  all  the  time  ?  Cap- 
tain Crowle,  perhaps,  though  I  doubt.  The  girl  herself— 
but  who  will  believe  her  ?  My  lord,  you  have  married  Miss 
Molly,  and  not  the  Lady  Anastasia." 

"What  then?" 

"  You  have  only  to  claim  your  bride." 

"Sir.  You  forget  that  I  am  the  bride,"  Lady  Anastasia 
interposed,  quickly. 

Mr.  Purdon  bowed  and  smiled,  rubbing  his  hands  softly. 
"With  submission,  madam.  I  do  not  advise  that  his  lord- 
ship should  carry  her  off,  nor  that  he  should  claim  her  ad 
mensam  et  toruni,  as  we  scholars  say.  His  principles  would 
not,  I  am  sure,  allow  that  he  should  carry  off  an  unmarried 
woman.  Not  at  all.  He  will  leave  her  with  her  friends. 
Indeed,  he  would  prefer  to  do  so.  I  suggest  only  that  we 
should  proclaim  the  marriage  and  lay  hands  upon  the  for- 
tune." 

"  She  is  to  be  the  countess.     And  what  am  I  to  be  ?  " 

"  His  lordship's  best  friend.  You  will  rescue  him  in  his 
deepest  need ;  you  will  restore  him  to  affluence ;  it  will  be  a 
service,  madam,  of  the  purest  and  most  disinterested  affection, 
instead  of  an  ugly  and  ruinous  revenge.  Heavens  !  Can 
you  hesitate  ?  " 

Thus  did  he  gloss  over  the  villainy  so  that  the  poor 
woman  almost  believed  that  she  was  entering  upon  a  course 
of  virtuous  benevolence,  and,  as  the  man  said,  a  service  of 
love. 

"  But  the  girl — Molly.  She  will  not  consent  to  be  a 
countess  in  name." 

"  She  and  her  friends  will  protest ;  but  they  will  be  over- 
borne ;  meantime,  she  has  the  virtue  and  the  pride  of  her 
station.  Will  she  even  consent,  do  you  think,  to  call  her- 
self a  countess  when  she  is  not  married  ?  Why,  we  actually 
make  a  ladder  for  ourselves  to  climb  thereby,  out  of  her 
virtue." 

He  looked  at  the  lady  no  longer  stealthily,  but  full  in  the 
face,  with  a  smile,  as  if  he  was  proposing  a  scheme  of  the 
noblest  kind  ;  as  if  there  was  nothing  to  be  hidden,  and  there 
were  no  perjuries  to  be  advanced. 

Lord  Fylingdale,  too,  turned  to  her  with  a  face  of  inquiry 
and  doubt. 


A  NEW  COMPACT  285 

"  What  is  your  lordship's  opinion  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  scheme  of  great  audacity.  It  will  require  bold 
handling." 

"  It  shall  be  boldly  handled,  if  I  may  advise." 

"  It  is  certain  to  be  resisted  with  the  utmost  indig- 
nation." 

"  Of  that  there  is  no  doubt.  But  the  end  is  also  certain. 
Nothing  can  withstand  the  evidence  of  our  case.  It  is  so 
clear  that  I  myself  am  of  opinion  that  the  bride  was  actually 
Miss  Molly." 

They  both  looked  at  Lady  Anastasia,  who  made  no  re- 
sponse— her  eyes  in  her  lap. 

"  The  truth  will  lie  with  us  three,"  the  tempter  went 
on.  "  Only  with  us  three.  None  of  us  will  reveal  it." 

"  As  regards  jealousy,  Anastasia,  the  girl  will  be  here,  and 
everything  will  continue  just  as  before." 

She  threw  up  her  arms  and  sprang  to  her  feet.  "  Oh  !  " 
she  cried,  "  it  is  the  most  monstrous  villainy." 

"  We  need  not  think  of  the  girl.  We  must  think  of  our- 
selves." 

"  A  service  of  love,"  murmured  Mr.  Purdon,  "  a  beauti- 
ful, a  noble  service  of  love  !  " 

"  The  fortune  is  immense,  Anastasia.  It  is  ridiculous 
that  the  girl  should  have  so  much.  We  will  leave  her  a 
competence.  Besides,  there  are  the  jewels." 

Lady  Anastasia  gasped. 

"  You  yourself  will  adorn  these  jewels.  It  will  be  my 
greatest  pleasure  to  atone  for  my  ill-judged  deception  by 
giving  you  all  those  jewels — the  diamonds,  the  rubies,  the 
chains  of  pearls,  and  all  the  rest  of  the  pretty  glittering 
things."  He  took  her  hands,  the  parson  looking  on  all  the 
time  as  a  physician  looks  on  at  a  blood-letting  or  an  oper- 
ation. "  What  can  that  girl  do  with  jewels  ?  They  shall 
all  be  yours.  Forgive  me,  Anastasia,  and  let  us  again  work 
together  as  we  have  already  done — you  and  I — with  no  more 
jealousy  and  no  more  suspicions." 

He  kissed  her  hand.  His  manner  was  changed  almost 
suddenly ;  he  became  soft,  caressing,  and  persuasive.  It 
was  the  old  charm  which  the  poor  lady  could  never  resist. 
She  suffered  him  to  hold  her  hand ;  she  allowed  him  to  kiss 
her  hand ;  her  eyes  grew  humid. 


286  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Oh  !  "  she  murmured,  "  I  must  do  everything  you  ask, 
Ludovick,  if  you  are  only  kind." 

"  How  can  I  be  anything  but  kind  ? "  he  replied,  with  a 
smile.  "You  must  forget  and  forgive.  The  thought  that 
all  I  had  schemed  and  planned  was  torn  from  me — and  by 
you,  Anastasia — by  you — was  too  much.  My  mind  was 
upset ;  I  know  not  what  I  said.  Forgive  me  !  " 

"  Oh,  Ludovick  !     I  forgive." 

"  And  the  jewels  shall  atone — the  lovely  jewels.  You 
shall  have  them  all." 

"  You  will  truly  give  me  the  jewels  ?  " 

"Truly,  my  Anastasia.  After  all,  we  are  man  and  wife. 
Henceforth  we  shall  only  live  for  each  other.  Your  happi- 
ness shall  be  mine.  Trie  jewels  shall  be  yours." 

She  yielded ;  she  fell  into  his  arms.  There  was  a  com- 
plete, a  touching  reconciliation  ! 

"  I  agree,  then,  Purdon,"  said  his  lordship.  "  We  both 
agree.  It  remains  only  to  choose  the  best  time,  the  best 
place,  the  best  manner." 

"  Let  it  be  the  boldest  manner ;  the  most  public  place ; 
before  the  largest  company.  Let  there  be  no  mistake  pos- 
sible. Leave  this  to  me,  my  lord.  Twelve  thousand 
pounds.  Your  ladyship  will  oblige  me  with  pen,  ink,  and 
paper?  I  may  point  out"  (he  turned  to  his  former  pupil 
with  an  ugly  grin)  "  that  if  this  promise,  or  bond,  or  bill  is 
not  met  I  shall  proclaim  the  whole  business  from  the  house- 
top." 

In  other  words,  Lord  Fylingdale  was  going  to  declare 
that  it  was  Molly,  and  none  other,  who  was  married  that 
morning  at  six  o'clock,  and  to  assume  the  rights  and  powers 
of  a  husband.  So  that  the  news  of  his  evil  reputation  came, 
after  all,  too  late  to  be  of  any  use.  And  as  for  explanations, 
who  would  have  the  right  to  ask  any  explanations  of  a  mar- 
ried man  on  behalf  of  his  wife. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

WHAT  DOES  IT  MEAN  ? 

FORTUNE  was  with  the  conspirators.  Everything  helped 
them.  First  of  all,  the  dippers  whispered  the  news  as  a 
profound  secret.  Then  it  was  whispered  about  the  pump 
room  as  a  profound  secret.  Then  it  was  carried  to  the  con- 
fectioner's ;  to  the  book  shop  ;  to  the  coffee  houses ;  to  the 
taverns ;  to  the  gardens ;  and  talked  about  as  an  event  and 
not  a  secret  at  all.  It  was,  indeed  extraordinary  that  a 
nobleman  of  Lord  Fylingdale's  rank  and  fortune  should 
stoop  to  marry  the  daughter  of  a  plain  merchant  of  Lynn ; 
a  homely  creature,  as  the  ladies  declared ;  one  who  had  no 
manners,  and  was  actually  ignorant  of  the  polite  world.  It 
was  said  that  she  was  rich.  Could  the  Earl  of  Fylingdale 
stoop  to  pick  up  her  paltry  fortune  ?  What  was  the  at- 
traction, then  ?  A  bouncing  figure  ;  big  hands  and  strong 
arms ;  fine  eyes,  perhaps,  and  there  an  end ;  for  the  rest, 
a  mere  common  girl,  no  better  than  dozens  like  herself. 
Some  there  were  who  whispered  a  word  of  ugly  import  in 
the  country.  "  It  must  be  witchcraft !  Surely,"  they  said, 
"this  unfortunate  young  man  has  been  bewitched.  Some 
one,  perhaps  the  negress,  has  exercised  spells  over  him  to 
his  destruction.  The  pity  of  it !  The  pity  of  it  !  It  will 
be  three  generations,  at  least,  before  the  stain  of  this  alli- 
ance can  be  wiped  out  of  the  family  pedigree." 

The  vicar  heard  the  rumour.  He  hastened  at  once  to 
find  out  the  truth  from  the  person  most  certain,  as  he 
thought,  to  know  the  facts,  viz,  Molly  herself. 

"  I  am  to  congratulate  you,  Molly,"  he  said,  "  or  must  I 
call  you  the  Countess  of  Fylingdale  ?  " 

"I  am  certainly  not  a  countess,"  she  replied.  "Why 
the  horns  came  here  at  seven  this  morning  and  the  butchers 
with  them,  all  to  congratulate  me.  What  does  it  mean  ? " 

"  Then  it  is  not  true,  Molly  ?     Heavens,  how  glad  I  am  !  " 

"  Why,  certainly  not.  I  wrote  to  Lord  Fylingdale  last 

287 


288  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

night.  I  told  him  I  should  not  be  at  the  church  this  morn- 
ing, as  I  had  promised." 

"  Then — is  it  not  true  ? — may  I  contradict  the  report  ? " 

"  If  you  please,  sir.  Did  you  see  Jack  last  night  after 
he  left  me?" 

"We  did.  And  we  learned  your  resolution.  There- 
fore, I  was  the  more  astonished." 

"  Oh  !  sir.  Pray  do  not  think  that  I  would  marry  a 
rake  for  a  title  which  I  do  not  want  and  should  not  adorn." 

"  Heavens !  my  dear  Molly,  what  a  load  you  lift  from 
my  heart ! " 

So  he  went  away.  Outside,  in  the  streets,  he  met  the 
clerk  of  St.  Nicholas.  "  What  is  all  this,"  he  said,  "  about 
a  marriage  early  this  morning  ?  " 

"Why,  sir,  it  is  no  secret,  I  believe.  Miss  Molly  was 
married  at  six  o'clock  to  Lord  Fylingdale.  I  was  present, 
and  gave  away  the  bride." 

"  Are  we  dreaming  ?  Are  we  in  our  right  senses  ?  You 
say,  man,  that  Miss  Molly  was  married  this  morning — this 
very  morning — to  Lord  Fylingdale.  By  whom  ?  " 

"By  his  reverence,  Mr.  Purdon." 

"  By  Mr.  Purdon  ?     Was  the  marriage  duly  celebrated  ?  " 

"  Surely,  sir.  They  were  married  by  licence ;  and  the 
marriage  is  entered  in  the  registers." 

"  Come  to  the  church  and  show  me  the  registers." 

The  clerk  led  the  way  to  the  vestry  and  opened  the  great 
trunk.  There  lay  the  books  of  the  registers.  He  took 
them  out  and  showed  the  entries.  Yes ;  there  was  no  doubt 
possible.  There  were  the  two  signatures,  "  Fylingdale  " 
and  "  Mary  Miller,"  with  the  clerk  as  witness  and  the  sig- 
nature of  "Benjamin  Purdon,  Clerk  in  Orders,"  as  the 
officiating  minister. 

"Now,"  said  the  vicar,  sitting  down,  "what  does  this 
mean  ? " 

As  for  myself,  I  also  heard  the  news.  It  was  brought  on 
board  by  Captain  Jaggard.  "  I  could  have  wished,"  he 
said,  "  that  Captain  Crowle  had  seen  his  way  to  marry  the 
girl  to  some  honest  man  of  the  place — to  you,  Jack,  or 
some  other.  I  suppose  she  is  too  rich  for  a  merchant  or  a 
simple  sailor.  Pity  !  Pity  !  This  noble  lord  will  take  her 
away,  and  we  shall  see  her  no  more." 


WHAT  DOES  IT  MEAN?  289 

I  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  tell  him  that  I  was  myself 
an  eyewitness  of  the  wedding,  but,  as  soon  as  I  could  get 
away,  I  went  ashore  to  learn  what  was  said  and  reported. 

At  my  father's  house  behind  the  school  I  found  the  vicar 
in  a  strangely  bewildered  mind.  "  Molly,"  he  said,  "  flatly 
denies  the  marriage." 

"  Molly  denies  ?  "  I  was  amazed. 

"  And  the  clerk  swears  that  he  gave  her  away ;  the 
registers  are  duly  entered.  What  does  this  mean  ?  What 
does  this  mean  ?  " 

I  stared,  and  for  a  time  made  no  reply.  Molly  to  utter 
a  falsehood  ?  The  thing  was  incredible.  Yet,  what  was  I 
to  think  ? 

"Sir,"  I  said,  "I  remembered,  early  this  morning,  that  I 
had  forgotten  Molly's  letter  to  Lord  Fylingdale.  I  has- 
tened ashore,  hoping  to  be  in  time  to  stop  his  going  to  the 
church.  I  was  too  late.  I  hurried  on  to  the  church.  To 
my  amazement  the  wedding  service  was  at  this  moment  be- 
ing read  by  Mr.  Purdon,  and  I  saw,  with  my  own  eyes, 
Molly,  wrapped  in  her  pink  cloak,  the  hood  over  her  head, 
married  to  Lord  Fylingdale.  You  cannot  think  that  I  was 
deceived." 

"  Why,  the  thing  grows  more  and  more  mysterious. 
Given  the  fact  that  Lord  Fylingdale  is  a  reprobate,  with  no 
principle  and  no  religion,  yet  he  would  not  pass  off  another 
woman  as  Molly.  She  would  have  to  be  a  woman  of  the 
vilest  character.  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  woman  in  Lynn 
who  could  be  persuaded  to  such  an  act  of  villainy.  No,  it 
is  impossible  ;  the  clerk  could  not  be  deceived  ;  the  clergy- 
man— to  be  sure  he  is  a  fit  companion  for  the  bridegroom 
— would  not — could  not — stoop  so  low.  Think,  Jack. 
Molly  stoutly  declares  that  she  has  not  left  the  house  for 
any  purpose  whatever.  That  is  a  plain  assertion.  Then 
we  have  the  evidence  of  yourself,  of  the  clerk,  of  the 
registers,  and  of  the  two  whose  evidence  might  not  be  con- 
sidered trustworthy — the  bridegroom  and  the  minister.  I 
do  not  understand.  You  say  that  Molly  was  dressed  in  a 
cloak  that  you  recognised  ?  " 

"  In  her  pink  silk  cloak,  such  as  she  throws  over  her 
shoulders  at  the  assembly," 

"  There  is  no  escape,  I  fear,  no  escape,  that  I  can  see. 


290  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

What  does  it  mean  ?     Why  does  Molly  make  this  asser- 
tion ?     She  must  know  that  it  cannot  undo  the  wedding." 

"  I  cannot  so  much  as  guess.  Molly  is  the  most  candid 
and  the  most  truthful  of  women.  She  cannot  lie.  It  is 
impossible.  There  must  be  some  dreadful  mistake." 

"  She  is,  as  you  say,  of  a  most  truthful  nature.  Yet — 
how  to  explain  ?  What  does  it  mean  ? " 

"  I  saw  her  hand  placed  in  the  bridegroom's,  and  I 
heard  the  words.  Then,  for  my  heart  sank,  I  came 
away." 

"Tell  me  again.  When  you  left  her  last  night,  she  was 
fully  resolved  not  to  keep  her  promise." 

14  She  was  fully  resolved,  I  say.  I  have  her  letter — the 
letter  which  she  wrote  with  my  help,  the  letter  which  I 
ought  to  have  sent  to  his  lordship." 

I  lugged  it  out  of  my  pocket;  the  vicar  read  it. 
"  Humph,"  he  said,  "  it  is  written  as  if  by  a  supercargo — 
but  that  matters  nothing.  The  meaning  of  it  is  plain. 
Her  resolution  is  fixed.  She  was  agitated,  Jack." 

"Naturally  she  was  agitated  at  finding  the  man,  whom 
she  was  to  marry  out  of  respect  and  not  for  love,  was  un- 
worthy of  the  least  respect." 

"  She  was  agitated.  That  was,  as  you  say,  natural.  She 
had  in  her  mind,  at  the  same  time,  the  promise  to  meet  her 
accepted  lover  at  the  church  at  six  in  the  morning.  We 
must  remember  that.  Now  it  is  difficult  to  understand  a 
more  serious  blow  to  the  mind  of  a  young  girl  than  to  be 
told  suddenly,  without  the  least  preparation  for  it,  that  the 
man  she  is  to  marry  is  not  what  she  believed  him  to  be ; 
not,  that  is,  a  man  of  honour,  not  a  man  of  virtue,  not  a 
man  whose  conduct  is  governed  by  principle.  I  say  that 
this  knowledge  may  fall  upon  a  woman  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  distract  her  for  a  time." 

"  But  Molly  was  not  in  the  least  distracted." 

"Not  in  your  judgment.  Could  you  have  followed  her 
to  the  lonely  chamber,  Jack,  you  might  have  witnessed  a 
scene  of  strange  distraction  in  which  contempt  took  the 
place  of  respect;  loathing  of  love;  and  enmity  in  place  of 
gratitude.  In  a  word,  you  would  have  seen  a  transforma- 
tion of  the  girl.  Had  you  watched  her  through  the  night 
you  would  have  seen  the  sleeplessness  and  the  restlessness 


WHAT  DOES  IT  MEAN?  291 

caused  by  these  emotions ;  you  would  have  seen,  perhaps, 
with  the  early  morning  nature  asserting  herself  and  the 
girl  dropping  asleep.  After  an  hour  or  two  she  awakes, 
her  mind  not  yet  recovered  ;  she  remembers  her  promise, 
but  not  her  refusal  to  keep  it ;  she  dresses  mechanically ; 
she  steps  out  of  the  house  unseen ;  she  meets  the  man — he 
had  not  received  your  letter — she  goes  through  the  cere- 
mony with  him.  She  returns  home,  mounts  to  her  room 
still  without  being  observed,  and  again  falls  asleep.  When 
she  awakes  there  is  no  memory  in  her  mind  of  the  wedding 
service,  nor  any  recollection  of  what  had  taken  place. 
There  would  be  left  nothing  but  the  memory  of  last  night's 
revelations." 

He  went  on  to  fortify  his  theory  with  an  abundance  of 
examples  taken  from  antiquity,  and  from  books  in  which 
persons  have  been  known  to  do  strange  things  while  seem- 
ingly broad  awake  and  in  their  senses,  who,  afterwards,  re- 
membered nothing.  "  I  can  even  understand,"  he  said,  "  a 
man  committing  a  crime  in  this  unconscious  manner,  who, 
in  his  sane  moments,  would  be  incapable  of  any  wicked- 
ness. Is  this  what  was  formerly  called  demoniac  posses- 
sion ?  If  so,  it  is  a  truly  dreadful  thing,  and  one  against 
which  we  ought  to  pray." 

The  explanation  seemed,  at  least,  one  that  accounted  for 
the  strange  denial  of  a  simple  fact. 

"  We  will  leave  it  so,"  he  said.  "  I  will  go  and  talk  to 
Captain  Crowle  about  it,  though  I  doubt  whether  the  cap- 
tain can  be  made  to  understand  these  nice  distinctions  be- 
tween things  as  they  are  and  things  as  they  seem.  It  is, 
from  every  point  of  view,  most  unfortunate.  The  poor 
girl  is  now  the  wife  of  a  villain.  What  will  happen  to  her 
nobody  knows  as  yet.  Nor  do  I  see  how  we  can  protect 
her." 

Accordingly,  he  laid  the  matter  before  the  captain,  but 
failed  in  persuading  him. 

"  No,  sir,"  he  said  ;  "  there  is  villainy  abroad.  I  know 
not  of  what  kind.  There  is  villainy,  and  there  are  villains. 
Molly  is  not  married.  She  was  not  out  of  the  house  this 
morning  at  all.  She  was  with  her  mother  in  the  stillroom. 
Besides,  do  you  believe  it  possible  for  a  woman  not  to  know 
whether  she  is  married  or  not  ?  " 


292  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Captain,  I  cannot  understand  it,  except  by  my  theory 
that " 

"  He  shan't  have  her,  whatever  he  says.  What  ? 
Should  I  suffer  my  girl — my  ward — to  go  to  him,  and 
that  unmarried  ?  Say  no  more,  vicar — say  no  more." 

Thinking  over  the  vicar's  distinctions  about  things  as 
they  are  and  things  as  they  seem,  a  sudden  objection  oc- 
curred to  me. 

"  If  Molly  was  actually  married,  whether  she  remem- 
bered it  afterwards  or  not,  what  became  of  the  wedding 
ring  ?  "  To  this  objection  I  could  find  no  reply.  And  so 
the  vicar's  explanation,  in  my  mind,  fell  to  the  ground,  and 
I  was  as  much  at  sea  as  ever.  For  Molly,  who  was  always 
as  true  and  candid  as  a  mirror,  was  now  .  .  .  but  I 
could  not  put  the  thing  into  words. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

A    DAY    OF    FATE 

THIS  was  the  day  when  all  the  villainy  came  to  a  head 
and  did  its  worst  and  met  with  the  first  instalment  of  ex- 
posure. I  have  told  you  what  was  done  at  the  church  and 
what  was  our  own  bewilderment,  not  knowing  what  to  be- 
lieve or  how  to  explain  things.  For  my  own  part,  though 
I  might  have  guessed,  because  I  had  discovered  the  jealousy 
of  Lady  Anastasia;  yet  the  truth,  even  the  possibility  of 
the  truth,  never  came  into  my  head.  I  had  no  manner  of 
doubt,  in  my  own  mind,  that  it  was  Molly  herself,  and 
none  other,  whom  I  saw  standing  as  a  bride  at  the  altar 
rails  with  Lord  Fylingdale  for  a  bridegroom.  The  fact,  I 
say,  admitted  of  no  dispute.  Yet,  why  should  Molly  change 
her  mind  ?  And  why  should  she  deny  the  fact  ? 

I  sought  her  at  the  house.  I  begged  her  to  come  into 
the  garden  and  to  talk  with  me  privately.  Then  I  asked 
those  two  questions.  Her  answer  to  both  of  them  was 
most  amazing. 

"Jack,"  she  said,  "  I  know  not  what  you  mean.  I  have 
not  changed  my  mind.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  marry  a 
man  of  whom  such  things  can  be  said  unless  he  can  prove 
that  they  are  false.  How  can  you  think  that  I  have  changed 
my  mind  ?  As  regards  this  talk  about  an  early  wedding, 
what  do  I  know  about  it?  At  six  o'clock  I  was  in  the 
kitchen  with  my  mother  and  Nigra.  I  have  not  been  out 
of  the  house  at  all." 

Then  I  persisted.  I  asked  her  if  she  could  have  gone 
out  and  had  perhaps  forgotten. 

"  Forgotten  !  "  she  repeated,  scornfully.  "  Do  you  sup- 
pose that  a  woman  could  by  any  possibility  forget  her  own 
wedding  ?  But  what  is  it,  Jack  ?  What  is  in  your  mind? " 

Then  I  told  her.  "Molly,"  I  said,  "last  night  I  forgot 
your  letter.  There  was  so  much  to  think  and  talk  about 
with  these  disclosures  that  I  forgot.  This  morning  I  re- 

293 


294  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

membered.  Then  I  hurried  ashore.  I  ran  to  the  l  Crown ' ; 
it  was  just  upon  six.  I  was  too  late.  His  lordship  had 
gone  out  in  a  chair.  I  ran  to  the  church.  It  was  just 
after  six.  The  doors  were  open ;  I  heard  voices.  I  went 
in,  Molly — do  not  say  that  I  am  dreaming — I  saw  you — 
you  I  say — you,  yourself — with  your  pink  silk  cloak,  the 
hood  pulled  over  your  head,  a  domino  to  hide  your  face — 
just  as  had  been  arranged." 

"You  saw  me,  Jack?     You  saw  me  ?     How  could  you 


see  me 


"And  your  hand  was  in  Lord  Fylingdale's,  and  Mr. 
Purdon  was  pronouncing  the  words  which  made  you  his 
wife.  *  Whom  God  hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put 
asunder.' " 

She  stared  at  me  with  blank  amazement. 

"  In  my  pink  silk  cloak  ?  Jack,  are  you  in  your  right 
mind  or  is  it  I  myself  who  am  gone  distraught  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  I  know  not  which." 

"  Did  you  speak  to  me  ?  Did  you  congratulate  the  bride, 
Jack  ? " 

"  No ;  I  was  sick  and  sorry,  Molly.  I  went  out  of  the 
church.  The  clerk,  however,  has  been  telling  the  story  of 
this  private  marriage  all  over  the  town.  Everybody  knows 
it.  The  marriage  is  duly  entered  in  the  registers.  It  was 
a  marriage  by  the  archbishop's  licence.  The  man  Purdon 
may  be  all  that  the  vicar's  letter  exposed,  but  the  marriage 
was  in  order." 

Molly  said  nothing  for  a  while.  Then  she  said  gently  : 
"The  letter  from  the  bookseller,  your  cousin,  spoke  of 
Lord  Fylingdale  as  ruined.  If  he  were  to  marry  a  woman 
with  money  it  would  become  his  own." 

"  I  believe  that  there  are  sometimes  letters — bills  of  lad- 
ing, or  whatever  they  are  called — which  gives  the  wife  the 
control  of  her  own  property  ;  otherwise,  everything  becomes 
her  husband's." 

"  Why  did  he  wish  to  marry  me  ?  There  was  never  a 
gleam  of  love  in  his  eye — nor  a  note  of  love  in  his  voice. 
Why — except  that  he  might  get  my  money  ?  " 

•'  That  is,  I  am  convinced,  the  reason." 

"Villainy — villainy — villainy.  Jack,  this  is  a  conspir- 
acy. Some  woman  has  been  made  to  play  my  part.  Then 


A  DAY  OF  FATE  295 

he  will  claim  me  as  his  wife,  and  lay  hands  upon  all  that 
I  have." 

"  No,  Molly,  he  shall  not  while  you  have  friends." 

"  Friends  cannot  help  where  the  law  orders  otherwise. 
So  much  I  know,  Jack.  Yet  you  can  do  one  thing  for  me, 
you  can  protect  me  from  the  man.  He  must  not  take  me 
away." 

"  All  Lynn  will  fight  for  you." 

"Jack,  I  want  more;  I  want  all  Lynn  to  believe  me. 
You  have  known  me  all  my  life.  Am  I  capable  of  such 
a  change  of  mind  ?  Am  I  capable  of  so  monstrous  a  false- 
hood as  to  steal  out  to  marry  this  man  and  then  to  declare 
that  I  have  never  left  the  house  ?  Oh,  the  villain  !  the 
villain  !  "  Her  cheek  was  aflame;  her  eyes  flashed. 

I  seized  her  hand.  "Molly,"  I  cried,  "they  shall  all 
believe  you.  I  will  tell  the  truth  everywhere." 

Just  then  the  garden  door  was  thrown  open  and  Sam 
Semple  appeared.  With  a  smiling  face  and  a  bending  knee 
he  advanced  bowing  low. 

"  Permit  me  to  offer  congratulations  to  the  Countess  of 
Fylingdale." 

"  I  am  not  a  countess.     I  am  plain  Molly  Miller." 

Sam  looked  disconcerted  and  puzzled.  I  perceived  that, 
plot  or  no  plot,  he  had  no  hand  in  it. 

"I  am  come,"  he  said,  "from  his  lordship " 

"  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  his  lordship." 

"  Surely,  madam — surely,  my  lady — there  is  some  mis- 
understanding. I  am  sent  by  his  lordship  with  his  compli- 
ments to  ask  when  it  will  be  convenient  for  the  countess 
to  receive  him." 

"  You  have  been  informed,  I  suppose,  that  I  was  married 
to  him  this  morning." 

"  Certainly,  my  lady." 

"  Then  go  back  to  Lord  Fylingdale  and  tell  him  that  he 
is  a  villain  and  a  liar;  that  I  have  learned  his  true  char- 
acter; that  I  am  not  married  to  him;  and  that  if  he  ven- 
tures to  molest  me  my  friends  will  protect  me.  Give  him 
that  message,  sir,  word  for  word." 

"  I  believe,  Sam,"  I  said,  for  his  discomfiture  and  bewil- 
derment made  him  reel  and  stagger,  "  that  you  have  no 
hand  in  this  new  villainy.  It  was  you,  however,  who 


296  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

brought  that  man  to  Lynn,  knowing  his  true  character  and 
his  antecedents.  Let  us  never  see  your  face  here  again. 
Go ;  if  I  thought  you  were  in  this  new  plot  I  would  serve 
you  again  as  the  captain  served  you  three  years  ago." 

He  went  away  without  another  word. 

Then  the  captain  came  home,  his  face  troubled. 

"I  know  not,"  he  said,  "what  has  happened  in  this 
place.  I  have  seen  Lord  Fylingdale.  I  told  him  of  the 
charges  and  accusations." 

"  Well  ?     Did  he  deny  them  ?  " 

"  He  denied  nothing,  and  he  admitted  nothing.  He  says 
that  you  married  him  this  morning,  Molly." 

"  I  know.  He  has  sent  Sam  Semple  here  with  the  same 
story.  Captain,  you  believe  me,  do  you  not  ?  " 

"  Believe  you,  Molly  ?  Why,  if  I  did  not  believe  you,  I 
should  believe  nothing.  Believe  you  ?  My  dear,  I  would 
as  soon  doubt  the  prayer  book."  He  laid  his  hand  upon 
her  arm  and  the  tears  came  into  his  eyes.  "  My  dear,  I 
have  been  an  old  fool.  But  I  did  it  for  the  best.  He  says 
that  you  are  his  wife.  Let  him  come  and  take  you — if  he 
can ! " 

"  It  is  not  Molly  that  he  would  take,  it  is  Molly's  for- 
tune." 

"Why,  sir,"  she  said,  "if  he  takes  the  whole  and  wastes 
and  dissipates  it,  so  long  as  he  does  not  take  me,  what  does 
it  matter  ? " 

Then  the  vicar  came  again,  and  the  whole  of  the  busi- 
ness had  to  be  discussed  again.  At  first,  he  adhered  to  his 
theory  of  unconscious  action,  because  a  scholar  always 
likes  to  explain  every  theory  by  examples  chosen  from 
Latin  and  Greek  authors.  He  had  looked  up  several  more 
stories  of  the  kind  from  I  know  not  what  folio  volumes  in 
his  library,  and  came  prepared  to  defend  his  opinion.  But 
the  absolute  certainty  of  Molly's  assertion ;  the  evidence  of 
her  mother,  who  declared  that  Molly  had  been  working 
with  her  since  half-past  five  ;  the  firm  belief  of  the  captain ; 
and  my  own  change  of  opinion  and  the  possibility  of  decep- 
tion shook  him.  Finally,  he  abandoned  his  learned  view, 
and  adopted  our  more  modern  explanation  of  the  case,  viz, 
that  the  marriage  was  a  sham,  and  that  the  woman  was 
some  creature  suborned  to  personate  Molly. 


A  DAY  OF  FATE  297 

"  But  what  woman  can  she  be  ? "  asked  the  vicar.  "  She 
can  write.  I  have  seen  the  registers;  she  has  signed  in  a 
full,  round  hand,  without  bad  spelling.  The  woman,  there- 
fore, is  educated.  My  dear,  we  may  perhaps  find  the 
woman.  My  worthy  and  pious  brother  in  Orders  is  most 
certainly  in  the  conspiracy.  Where  there  are  three  one  is 
generally  a  traitor.  To  begin  with,  the  scheme  is  both 
bold  and  dangerous.  It  is  the  first  step  towards  obtaining 
a  large  sum  of  money  under  false  pretences.  Their  necks 
are  in  danger,  even  the  neck  of  a  noble  earl. 

"  It  is  inconceivable,"  he  went  on,  after  a  little  reflec- 
tion, "  how  a  woman  could  be  found  to  play  such  a  part. 
She  must  be  the  mistress  of  the  earl ;  no  other  could  be 
trusted." 

"What  should  be  done  meantime  ?  " 

"  We  must  meet  the  enemy  on  his  own  ground.  He 
spreads  abroad  the  report  that  he  married  Molly  this  morn- 
ing. We  must  publicly  and  openly  deny  the  fact.  Cap- 
tain, there  will  be  a  large  company  at  the  assembly  this 
evening.  You  will  take  Molly  there.  I  will  go  with  you. 
Jack  shall  put  on  his  Sunday  best,  and  shall  also  go  with  us. 
We  must  be  prepared  for  an  impudent  claim,  and  we  must 
be  ready  with  a  prompt  denial.  Let  us  court  publicity." 

This  was  clearly  the  best  advice  possible.  We  were  left 
unmolested  all  the  afternoon,  though  the  captain  made  me 
stay  as  a  kind  of  garrison  in  case  of  any  attempt  at  abduc- 
tion being  made. 

In  the  evening,  Molly,  in  her  chair  and  dressed  in  her 
finery,  was  carried  to  the  gardens,  while  the  captain,  the 
vicar,  and  myself  formed  a  bodyguard. 

We  arrived  after  the  dancing  had  begun.  Lady  Anas- 
tasia  was  looking  on,  but  her  court  of  ladies  and  young 
men,  for  some  reason,  seemed  to  have  melted  away.  She 
stood  almost  alone,  save  for  the  support  of  the  old  beau  Sir 
Harry.  The  colonel  was  also  with  her.  And  the  Rever- 
end Benjamin  Purdon  stood  behind  her. 

The  music  was  in  the  gallery  at  the  end  of  the  long 
room  ;  the  dancing  was  carried  on  in  the  middle.  Lady 
Anastasia  was  standing  on  the  right  of  the  gallery ;  most  of 
the  company  on  the  left.  Molly  with  the  captain  and  fol- 
lowed by  the  vicar  and  myself  turned  to  the  left. 


298  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

On  her  entrance  all  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  newly 
made  countess.  She  had  come  without  her  lord.  Was 
this  part  of  the  secret — a  secret  known  to  all  the  world  ? 
Or  was  his  lordship  before  the  whole  company  about  to 
lead  his  bride  to  the  first  place  as  became  her  newly  ac- 
quired rank  ?  Some  of  the  ladies  regarded  her  with  looks 
of  hatred,  the  successors  of  the  looks  of  scorn  with  which 
they  had  at  first  welcomed  her.  Most  of  them,  however, 
were  kindly ;  a  tale  of  love  always  meets  with  a  friendly 
reception ;  not  a  woman  in  the  place  but  would  have  taken 
her  place  with  joy  unmeasured  ;  as  no  other  woman  could, 
they  were  ready  to  accept  their  fate  and  to  make  friends 
with  the  successful  and  the  fortunate  winner  of  so  great  a 
prize. 

It  was  a  great  prize,  indeed,  if  they  only  knew ! 

The  minuets  were  over  and  the  country  dances  were 
about  to  begin  when  Lord  Fylingdale  arrived,  followed,  as 
usual,  by  his  secretary.  He  stood  at  the  door,  he  looked 
around ;  then,  with  the  cold  pride  which  never  failed  him, 
he  stepped  across  the  room  and  bowed  low  to  Molly. 
"  Madam,"  he  said,  "  with  your  permission,  we  will  dance 
this  country  dance  together  before  I  take  you  away  with 
me." 

"  My  lord,"  replied  Molly  aloud,  so  that  the  whole  com- 
pany heard  and  trembled,  "  I  shall  not  dance  with  you  this 
evening,  nor  on  any  other  evening." 

"  She  will  never  again  dance  with  you,  my  lord  ;  nor  will 
she  hold  any  discourse  with  you;  nor  will  she  willingly  ad- 
mit you  to  her  presence."  It  was  the  vicar  who  spoke, 
because  the  man  and  the  occasion  proved  too  much  for  the 
good  old  captain,  who  could  only  roll  thunderously  between 
his  teeth  things  more  fitted  for  the  quelling  of  a  mutiny 
than  for  dealing  with  such  a  man  as  his  lordship. 

"  Pray,  sir,"  said  Lord  Fylingdale,  stepping  back,  "  what 
is  the  meaning  of  this  ?  Pray,  madam,"  he  turned  to 
Molly,  "  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  sudden  change  ? 
Captain  Crowle,  have  I,  or  have  I  not,  the  right  to  claim 
my  wife  ?  " 

The  vicar  stepped  forward  and  confronted  him.  His 
tall,  thin  figure,  his  long  cassock,  his  thin  and  ascetic  face 
contrasted  with  the  over-haughtiness  of  his  adversary. 


A  DAY  OF  FATE  299 

"  My  lord,"  he  asked,  "  how  long  has  this  lady  been 
your  wife  ?  " 

"We  were  married,"  he  said,  "at  six  o'clock  this  morn- 
ing, by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Benjamin  Purdon,  who  is  here  to  bear 
witness  to  the  fact.  The  wedding  was  private  at  my  re- 
quest, because,  as  you  may  perhaps  believe,  I  was  not  anx- 
ious to  join  in  the  wedding  feast  with  a  company  of  boors, 
bumpkins,  and  sailors." 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen," — the  vicar  raised  his  voice  and 
by  a  gesture  silenced  the  orchestra — "  I  have  to  lay  before 
you  a  conspiracy  which  I  believe  is  unparalleled  in  any 
history.  You  are  aware  that  Lord  Fylingdale,  who  stands 
before  you,  came  to  the  spa  a  few  weeks  ago  for  purposes 
best  known  to  himself.  You  will  also  doubtless  remember 
that  certain  persons,  who  arrived  before  him,  were  loud 
in  his  praises.  He  was  said  by  them  to  be  a  model  of 
all  the  virtues.  I  will  not  repeat  the  things  that  were 
said.  .  .  ." 

"  All  this,"  said  Lord  Fylingdale,  "  is  beside  the  mark. 
I  come  to  claim  my  wife." 

"  Among  those  who  accepted  these  statements  for  gospel 
was  Captain  Crowle,  the  guardian  of  the  young  lady  beside 
me.  It  was  to  him  a  great  honour  to  be  admitted  to  con- 
verse with  so  distinguished  a  nobleman  and  to  be  permitted 
to  consult  with  him  as  to  the  affairs  of  his  ward.  He  even 
informed  his  lordship  of  the  extent  of  the  lady's  fortune, 
which  is  far  greater  than  was  generally  understood.  There- 
upon his  lordship  began  to  pay  attention  of  a  marked  char- 
acter. You  have  all,  I  believe,  remarked  these  attentions. 
Then  came  the  attempted  abduction  and  the  lady's  rescue 
by  Lord  Fylingdale.  After  this  he  formally  offered  his 
hand  and  his  rank  to  the  lady.  The  honour  seemed  very 
great.  He  was  accepted.  He  then  engaged  the  lady  to 
undertake  a  private  marriage  without  festivities,  to  which 
she  consented.  She  promised,  in  fact,  to  be  married  at  St. 
Nicholas  Church  this  very  morning,  at  six  o'clock." 

"  All  this,"  said  Lord  Fylingdale,  coldly,  "  is  quite  true. 
Yet  why  you  detain  the  company  by  the  narrative  I  do  not 
understand.  The  lady  kept  her  promise.  I  met  her  at  the 
place  and  time  appointed.  We  were  married.  Once 
more,  Captain  Crowle,  I  claim  my  wife." 


3oo  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  the  vicar  continued,  "there  is 
but  one  reply  to  the  last  statement,  for  the  lady  did  not 
keep  her  engagement." 

"Sir,"  his  lordship  advanced  a  step,  "are  you  aware  of 
the  meaning  of  words  ?  Do  you  assert  that  I  was  not 
married  at  that  time  and  in  that  place  ?  " 

The  Reverend  Benjamin  Purdon  advanced.  "  Sir,"  he 
addressed  the  vicar,  "  like  his  lordship,  I  am  amazed  at 
these  words.  Why,  sir,  I  myself,  at  six  o'clock  this  morn- 
ing, performed  the  marriage  service,  as  prescribed  by  the 
Church,  for  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Fylingdale 
and  Miss  Mary  Miller." 

By  this  time  the  company  were  crowding  round  eagerly 
listening.  No  one  could  understand  what  had  happened. 
The  bridegroom  claimed  his  bride;  the  bride's  friends 
denied  that  she  was  married. 

"  Yesterday,"  the  vicar  went  on,  "  there  arrived,  simul- 
taneously, three  letters ;  one  of  them,  an  anonymous  letter, 
was  addressed  to  Captain  Crowle ;  one  from  a  respectable 
bookseller  in  London  was  addressed  to  Mr.  Pentecrosse, 
master  of  the  grammar  school ;  and  one  from  a  certain  fel- 
low of  his  college  at  Cambridge  was  addressed  to  me.  All 
these  letters,  together,  contained  charges  which  show  how 
deeply  we  have  been  deceived." 

"  Have  a  care  !     Have  a  care  !  "  said  Lord  Fylingdale. 

At  that  moment  another  arrival  took  place.  It  was  Tom 
Rising,  the  wounded  man.  He  was  pale  and  weak;  he 
leaned  upon  the  arms  of  two  gentlemen ;  he  was  followed 
by  a  figure,  strange,  indeed,  in  a  polite  assembly. 

"  By  these  letters  and  other  sources,"  the  vicar  con- 
tinued, "  I  learn  first  as  to  the  noble  lord's  friends — the 
following  particulars.  Pray  give  me  your  attention. 

"I  find  that  the  Lady  Anastasia  Langston  hath  been 
lately  presented  by  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex  for  keeping 
a  house  riotous,  of  great  extravagance,  luxury,  idleness,  and 
ill  fame.  She  is  the  third  on  the  list.  The  first,"  the  vicar 
read  from  a  paper,  "  is  the  Lady  Mordington  and  her  gam- 
ing house  in  Covent  Garden ;  the  second  is  the  Lady 
Castle  and  her  gaming  house,  also  in  Covent  Garden  ;  and 
the  third  is  the  Lady  Anastasia  Langston  and  her  gaming 
house,  in  or  near  Hanover  Square,  all  in  this  county. 


A  DAY  OF  FATE  301 

"  I  am  informed  that  Lady  Anastasia  hath  held  a  bank 
every  night  in  this  place  to  the  hurt  and  loss  of  many. 

"  I  turn  next  to  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Purdon, 
who  stands  before  you.  He  was  the  tutor  of  Lord  Fyling- 
dale ;  he  is  described  as  the  companion  of  his  vices ;  he 
was  the  cause  last  year  of  a  grievous  scandal  at  Bath ;  he 
is  the  author  of  a  ribald  piece  of  verse  by  which  he  has 
corrupted  many.  No  bishop  would  sanction  his  acceptance 
of  the  smallest  preferment." 

"  This  is  very  surprising,"  said  Mr.  Purdon,  shaking  his 
big  head.  "  But  we  shall  see,  we  shall  see,  immediately." 

"  There  are  next,  the  two  gentlemen  known  as  Sir  Harry 
A'lalyns  and  Colonel  Lanyon.  Their  occupation  is  to  act 
as  decoy  ducks;  to  lure  young  men  to  the  gaming  table, 
and  to  plunder  them  when  they  are  caught." 

Both  these  gentlemen  started,  but  neither  replied. 

"  I  now  come  to  the  noble  lord  before  me.  He  is  a 
most  notorious  profligate ;  he  shares  in  Lady  Anastasia's 
gaming  house;  he  has  long  since  been  refused  admittance 
into  the  houses  of  persons  of  honour;  he  is  an  inveterate 
gambler;  he  has  ruined  his  own  estate — sold  the  family 
plate  and  pictures,  library,  everything ;  he  is,  at  this  mo- 
ment, unable  to  borrow  or  to  raise  the  smallest  sum  of 
money.  The  fleet  and  the  King's  Bench  Prisons  are  full 
of  the  unfortunate  tradesmen  who  trusted  him  and  the 
young  rakes  whom  he  has  ruined. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  was  the  story  which  reached 
us  yesterday,  fortunately,  in  time.  Miss  Molly  broke  off 
her  promise,  and  wrote  to  his  lordship  for  explanations. 
Captain  Crowle  called  upon  his  lordship  this  morning  for 
explanations.  He  was  met  with  derision  ;  he  was  told  that 
he  was  too  late,  the  young  lady  was  already  married — there 
was  no  necessity  for  any  explanations." 

The  company  murmured.  Voices  were  raised  demand- 
ing explanations. 

Said  his  lordship,  coldly,  u  These  inventions  need  no  re- 
ply. I  claim  my  wife." 

kt  She  is  not  your  wife,"  said  the  vicar.  "  We  are  ready 
to  prove  that  at  six  o'clock  the  young  lady  was  already  en- 
gaged with  her  mother  in  the  stillroom,  or  in  some  other 
occupations.  Of  that  there  is  no  doubt  possible.  But " — 


3o2  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

and  here  he  lifted  a  warning  finger,  but  his  lordship  paid  no 
attention — "there  was  a  wedding  early  this  morning.  His 
reverence  Mr.  Purdon  performed  the  service ;  the  wedding 
was  in  the  name  of  Mary  Miller  as  bride ;  the  registers  are 
signed  4  Mary  Miller.'  This  is,  therefore,  a  conspiracy." 

"You  talk  nonsense,"  said  his  lordship,  who  certainly 
carried  it  off  with  an  amazing  assurance.  "  I  claim  my 
wife.  Once  more,  madam,  will  you  come  with  me  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  your  wife." 

"  We  must  endeavour,"  said  the  vicar,  "  to  find  the 
woman  who  personated  Miss  Molly.  The  clerk  of  the 
parish  testifies  to  the  wedding,  but  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  seen  the  face  of  the  bride.  Whoever  she  was,  she 
wore  a  domino,  and  had  thrown  her  hood  over  her  face." 

The  Lady  Anastasia  stepped  forward,  agitating  her  fan. 
"  Reverend  sir,"  she  said  to  the  vicar,  "  in  matters  of  society 
you  are  a  very  ignorant  and  a  very  simple  person.  It  is 
quite  true  that  I  have  been  presented  by  a  Middlesex  jury 
for  gambling.  It  is  also  true  that  half  London  might  also 
be  presented.  As  for  the  rest  of  your  statements,  that,  for 
instance,  Lord  Fylingdale  shares  in  the  profits  of  my  bank, 
let  me  assure  you  that  your  innocence  has  been  abused; 
these  things  are  not  true.  However,  it  is  not  for  me  to 
answer  public  insults  in  a  public  place.  Sir  Harry,  my  old 
friend,  they  call  you  a  decoy — even  you,  with  your  name 
and  your  reputation.  A  decoy  !  Sir,  your  cloth  should 
shame  you.  Sir  Harry,  take  me  to  my  chair.  If,  to-mor- 
row morning,  the  company  thinks  proper  to  dissociate  itself 
from  this  public  insult,  I  will  remain  in  this  place,  where, 
I  own,  I  have  found  many  friends.  If  not,  I  shall  return 
to  London  and  to  the  house  presented  by  the  grand  jury  of 
Middlesex." 

So  saying,  she  retired  smiling,  and,  as  they  say  of  soldiers, 
in  good  order.  With  her,  also  in  good  order,  the  ancient 
beau,  with  no  other  signs  of  agitation  than  a  trembling  of 
the  knees — and  this  might  very  well  be  laid  to  the  account 
of  his  threescore  years  and  fifteen,  or  perhaps  fourscore. 

At  this  point,  however,  Tom  Rising,  supported  by  his 
friends,  advanced.  "  My  lord,"  he  said,  "  I  have  brought 
an  old  friend  to  meet  you,  Jack  Gizzard — Honest  John — 
the  poultry  man  of  Bond  street.  You  know  him  of  old,  I 


A  DAY  OF  FATE  303 

believe.  The  advantage  of  bringing  him  here  to  expose 
you  is  that  you  cannot  fight  a  poultry  man." 

I  looked  on  in  admiration.  The  affair  could  not  be 
turned  into  a  private  quarrel,  for  the  fellow  was,  indeed,  no 
other  than  a  dealer  in  poultry  by  trade.  Yet  no  better 
witness  could  be  produced,  for  no  one  was  better  known 
than  Jack  Gizzard — so  called  from  his  trade — at  all  race 
meetings,  at  Newmarket,  at  Epsom,  and  at  other  places. 
He  was,  in  fact,  that  rare  creature,  the  man  who,  not  being 
a  gentleman,  is  yet  admitted  to  the  sports  of  gentlemen ;  is 
considered  as  an  authority  ;  is  allowed  to  bet  freely  with 
them,  yet  remains  what  he  was  by  birth,  a  mechanic,  a 
shopkeeper,  a  farmer,  a  grazier,  a  horse  breeder,  or  I  know 
not  what. 

I  do  not  know  his  surname ;  he  was  called  Gizzard  on 
account  of  his  calling,  and  Jack  on  account  of  the  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  by  all  sporting  men.  No  one  knew 
better  than  Jack  Gizzard  how  to  choose,  how  to  train,  how 
to  feed  a  gamecock ;  no  one  knew  better  the  points  of  a 
horse ;  no  one  knew  better  how  to  train  a  dog  for  coursing ; 
no  one  knew  more  of  the  secrets  of  the  stable ;  no  one  knew 
more  intimately  the  rules  of  the  prize  ring,  whether  for 
quarterstaff,  singlestick,  or  boxing.  No  one,  again,  held  a 
better  reputation  for  honesty  in  sport ;  he  betted  and  he 
paid  ;  he  would  advise  a  man  even  to  his  own  loss.  Such  a 
man  as  this  Tom  Rising  brought  to  the  assembly  for  the 
discomfiture  of  his  late  adversary. 

"Jack,"  he  said,  "here  is  his  lordship,  and  there — don't 
go  just  yet,  colonel,"  for,  at  the  sight  of  Jack  Gizzard, 
Colonel  Lanyon  was  about  to  leave  the  room.  "Not  just 
yet.  Thank  you,  gentlemen,"  as  two  or  three  placed  them- 
selves between  the  colonel  and  the  door. 

Jack  Gizzard  stepped  forward.  He  was  in  appearance 
more  like  a  butcher  than  anything  else,  being  a  stout,  hearty- 
looking  man,  with  a  red  face. 

"  My  lord,"  he  said,  "  when  you  last  left  Newmarket 
Heath  you  owed  me  £500."  Lord  Fylingdale  made  no 
sign  of  any  kind  of  response.  "  I  met  you  again  at  Bath ;  it 
was  before  the  time  when  you  were  requested  by  the  master 
of  the  ceremonies  to  leave  the  place  with  your  friend — ah  ! 
colonel,  glad  to  see  you — with  your  friend  Colonel  Lanyon." 


3o4  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

Lord  Fylingdale  made  no  sign  whatever  of  having  heard. 

"  Bath  is  not  very  far  from  Gloucestershire.  I  made  a 
journey  there  to  find  out  for  myself  your  lordship's  position. 
I  found  your  estate  in  the  hands  of  money-lenders ;  every 
acre  mortgaged;  your  house  falling  to  pieces;  its  contents 
sold.  You  are  already  completely  ruined.  I  went  back  to 
London  and  inquired  further;  you  had  lost  your  credit  as 
well  as  your  character.  You  could  not  show  your  face  at 
the  old  places ;  the  cockpit  of  Tothill  Fields  was  closed  to 
you  ;  all  the  clubs  of  St.  James's  were  closed  to  you.  Your 
name,  my  lord,  stank  then  as  badly  as  it  stinks  now." 
Lord  Fylingdale  still  paid  no  kind  of  attention.  "  You 
may  consider,  my  lord,  these  few  remarks  as  part  payment 
of  that  ^"500."  So  he  turned  away. 

"  Come  along,  colonel,"  said  Tom  Rising.  "  Bring  the 
colonel  to  the  front.  Don't  be  bashful,  colonel." 

Some  of  the  gentlemen  obeyed,  gently  pushing  the  colo- 
nel to  the  front.  "  Well,  poultry  man  ?  "  said  the  colonel 
boldly. 

"  Well,  sharper  ?  "  returned  Jack  Gizzard.  "  Gentle- 
men, this  fellow  has  been  a  bully  about  the  town  for  twenty 
years  and  more ;  a  bully  ;  a  common  cheat  and  sharper.  He 
is  now  altogether  discredited.  He  was  expelled  from  Bath 
with  his  noble  patron  last  year.  If  any  of  you  owe  him 
money  do  not  pay  him.  He  is  not  fit  to  sit  down  with 
gentlemen  of  honour.  That  is  all  I  have  to  say  about  you, 
colonel." 

"  What  I  have  to  say,  colonel,"  said  Tom  Rising,  "  is 
that  I  owe  you  ^"1,200,  and  if  I  pay  you  one  single  guinea 

— then "  He  proceeded  to  imprecate  the  wrath  of 

heaven  upon  himself  if  he  showed  any  weakness  in  that 
resolution. 

Lord  Fylingdale  once  more  turned  to  Molly. 

"  Madam,  for  the  last  time " 

"  Send  him  away — send  him  away,"  said  Molly.  "  He 
makes  me  sick." 

"We  deny  the  marriage,  my  lord,"  said  the  vicar. 
"  That  is  all  we  have  to  say." 

"At  your  peril,"  replied  his  lordship.  So  saying  he 
walked  away  unmoved,  apparently.  Mr.  Purdon  and 
Colonel  Lanyon  went  with  him ;  both  men  were  flushed  in 


A  DAY  OF  FATE  305 

the  cheeks  and  restrained  themselves  by  an  evident  effort. 
I  was  sorry  for  Sam  Semple,  for  he  followed,  his  face  full 
of  trouble  and  disappointment. 

When  they  were  gone,  the  vicar  spoke  once  more. 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "we  have  thought  it 
best  to  court  the  greatest  publicity  possible  in  this  matter. 
The  people  whom  we  have  exposed  will  not  again  trouble 
this  company  by  their  presence.  I  know  not  what  the  law 
may  decide  in  this  case,  supposing  his  lordship  so  ill-advised 
as  to  go  to  law.  But  the  truth,  which  is  above  the  law, 
remains,  that  an  imposture  of  the  most  daring  kind  has  been 
attempted,  and  that  some  woman  has  been  found  to  per- 
sonate Miss  Molly.  I  have  to  express  her  sorrow  for  keep- 
ing you  so  long  from  your  pleasures." 

And  with  these  words  he  offered  his  hand  to  Molly,  and 
we  withdrew,  and  the  music  struck  up  a  lively  country 
dance. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 

THE    BUBBLE    AND    THE    SKY  ROCKET 

THIS  was  Molly's  last  appearance  at  the  assembly. 

Next  day  we  heard  that  our  distinguished  visitors,  the 
Prince  of  Purity — or  the  Prince  of  Darkness,  which  you 
please — the  Lady  of  the  Green  Cloth,  Sir  Harry  Decoy- 
Duck,  and  Colonel  Bully  Barabbas,  with  the  Reverend  An- 
anias and  the  ingenious  Sam,  first  favourite  of  the  Muses, 
had  all  gone  away — whether  they  went  away  together  or 
separately  I  never  heard. 

The  opinion  of  the  company  as  to  the  exposure  and  the 
marriage  was  divided.  For  some  thought  that  Molly  was 
nothing  better  than  a  woman  who  did  not  know  her  own 
mind ;  that  she  was  first  dazzled  and  carried  off  her  head 
by  the  brilliant  offer  that  was  dangled  before  her;  that,  on 
Lord  Fylingdale's  request  she  consented  to  the  private  mar- 
riage; that  she  became  afterwards  afraid  of  the  greatness 
for  which  she  was  not  fitted  either  by  birth  or  education, 
and  thought  to  escape  by  hard  lying  and  a  strenuous  denial 
of  the  fact.  I  fear  that  this  opinion  was  that  of  .the  ma- 
jority. For,  they  added,  there  was  without  any  doubt  a 
marriage ;  it  was  performed  by  the  clergyman  who  by  his 
learning,  eloquence,  and  piety  had  made  so  many  friends 
during  his  short  stay,  and  it  was  witnessed  by  the  parish 
clerk.  If  Molly  was  not  the  bride  who  could  be  found  so 
closely  to  resemble  her  as  to  deceive  the  parish  clerk  ? 

When  it  was  objected  that  the  private  character  both  of 
his  lordship  and  his  late  tutor  was  of  the  kind  publicly 
alleged,  these  philosophers  asked  for  proof — as  if  proof 
could  be  adduced  in  a  public  assembly.  And  they  asked 
further  if  it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  an  eloquent 
divine,  whose  discourses  had  edified  so  many  could  possibly 
be  the  reprobate  and  profligate  as  stated  by  the  vicar  ?  As 
for  his  lordship  there  is,  as  everybody  knows,  an  offence 
called  scadalum  magnatum,  which  renders  a  person  who  de- 

306 


THE  BUBBLE  AND  THE  SKY  ROCKET     307 

fames  a  peer  or  attacks  his  honour  liable  to  prosecution, 
fine,  and  imprisonment. 

"  We  shall  presently,"  they  said,  "  find  this  presumptuous 
vicar  haled  before  the  courts  and  fined,  or  imprisoned,  for 
scandalum  magnatum" 

But  the  vicar,  when  this  was  reported  to  him,  only 
laughed  and  said  he  should  be  rejoiced  to  put  his  lordship 
under  examination. 

Others  there  were,  principally  townsfolk,  who  had 
known  Molly  all  her  life.  They  agreed  that  she  was  a 
woman  of  sober  mind ;  not  given  to  vapours  or  any  such 
feminine  weaknesses;  not  likely  to  be  carried  away  by 
terrors  ;  and  incapable  of  falsehood.  If  she  declared  that 
she  was  not  married,  she  certainly  was  not  married.  The 
business  might  be  explained  in  some  way  ;  but  of  one  thing 
they  were  very  sure — that  Molly,  since  she  said  so,  was  not 
married.  This  view  was  strongly  held  by  the  "  Society  " 
of  King's  Lynn  at  their  evening  meetings. 

It  must  be  owned  that  the  departure  of  the  vivacious 
and  affable  Lady  Anastasia  with  that  of  the  agreeable  rattle 
of  seventy-five,  Sir  Harry,  and  that  of  the  pious  Purdon, 
who  had  also  become  a  favourite  with  the  ladies,  proved  a 
heavy  blow  to  the  gaieties  of  the  assembly  and  the  long 
room.  The  card  room  was  deserted  ;  conversation  in  the 
garden  and  the  pump  room  became  flat ;  the  gentlemen  who 
had  gambled  at  the  hazard  table  now  carried  on  their  sport 
— perhaps  less  dangerously — at  the  tavern  ;  many  of  them, 
having  lost  a  great  deal  more  than  they  could  afford,  were 
now  gloomy ;  there  were  no  more  public  breakfasts  ;  no 
more  water  parties  up  or  down  the  river ;  no  more  bowls 
of  punch  after  the  dance.  In  a  word  the  spirit  went  out 
of  the  company ;  the  spa  became  dull. 

Let  me  finish  with  the  story  of  this  mushroom.  I  call 
it  a  mushroom  because  it  appeared,  grew,  and  vanished  in  a 
single  season.  You  may  also  call  it  a  sky  rocket  if  you 
please,  or,  indeed,  anything  which  springs  into  existence  in 
a  moment,  and  in  a  moment  dies.  Perhaps  we  may  liken 
it  most  to  a  bubble  such  as  boys  blow  from  soap  suds.  It 
floated  in  the  sunshine  for  a  brief  space,  glowing  with  the 
colours  of  the  rainbow ;  then  it  burst  and  vanished,  leaving 
nothing  behind  but  the  memory  of  it. 


3o8  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

The  company,  I  say,  after  the  departure  of  the  party  from 
London,  became  almost  immediately  dull  and  out  of  spirits. 
The  music  alone  was  gay;  many  of  the  ladies  lamented 
loudly  that  they  had  ever  come  to  a  place  where  the  nightly 
gambling  had  played  havoc  with  their  husbands,  fathers,  or 
sons.  They  found  out  that  the  lodgings  were  cramped, 
dirty,  ill-furnished,  inconvenient,  and  exorbitant  in  their 
cost;  that  the  provisions  were  dear;  that  they  had  already 
taken  the  waters  for  a  month  or  more ;  and  that,  in  effect, 
it  was  high  time  to  go  home.  Besides,  their  own  houses 
in  the  summer,  the  season  of  fruit  and  flowers,  with  their 
orchards  and  their  gardens,  were  certainly  more  attractive 
than  the  narrow  streets  and  the  confined  air  of  Lynn. 

Therefore,  some  making  this  excuse  and  some  that,  they 
all  with  one  consent  began  to  pack  up  their  baggage  and  to 
go  home. 

The  departure  of  our  friends  from  London  took  place  in 
the  middle  of  June ;  by  the  end  of  June  the  season  was 
over — the  visitors  gone.  At  first  the  people  expected  new 
arrivals,  but  there  were  none — the  season  was  over.  The 
market-place  for  a  while  was  crowded  with  the  women  who 
brought  their  poultry  and  fruit  and  provisions  from  the 
country.  When  they  found  that  no  one  came  to  buy,  they 
gradually  ceased  to  appear.  Great  was  the  lamentation 
over  the  abundance  which  was  wasted,  and  the  produce  of 
their  gardens  doomed  to  ripen  and  to  rot. 

Then  the  strolling  players  put  their  dresses  and  properties 
into  a  waggon  and  went  away  complaining  that  they  were 
half  starved,  which  was,  I  dare  say,  the  simple  truth.  Next, 
all  the  show  folk  and  the  quacks,  and  the  Cheap  Jacks  and 
tumblers  and  Tom  Fools  went  away  too,  and  the  gipsies 
brought  in  no  more  horses,  and  the  streets  became  once 
more  silent  and  deserted,  save  on  the  quays  and  on  the 
river,  just  as  they  had  been  before  the  spa  was  opened. 

And  then  the  music  and  the  horns  were  sent  away;  the 
master  of  the  ceremonies  received  his  salary  and  went  back 
to  Norwich ;  the  gardens  were  closed ;  the  dippers  van- 
ished ;  the  pump  room  was  left  for  any  who  chose  to  dip 
and  draw  for  themselves;  the  hairdressers,  milliners, 
vendors  of  cosmetics,  powders,  paint,  and  patches  all  van- 
ished as  by  magic;  the  coffee  houses  were  closed;  the 


THE  BUBBLE  AND  THE  SKY  ROCKET     309 

bookseller  carried  his  books  back  to  Cambridge  or  wherever 
he  came  from  ;  the  confectioner  left  off  making  his  famous 
cakes ;  and  the  morning  prayers  were  once  more  read  to  a 
congregation  of  one  or  to. 

The  townsfolk,  then,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  began  to 
count  their  gains.  The  doctor,  you  remember,  prophesied 
at  the  outset  that  all  would  become  rich.  What  happened 
was  that  everybody  had  made  large  gains.  The  takings  of 
the  shops  had  been  far  greater  than  they  had  at  any  previous 
time  hoped  for  or  experienced.  On  the  other  hand  the 
shopkeepers  had  laid  in  large  and  valuable  stocks  which  now 
seemed  likely  to  remain  on  their  hands.  Moreover,  as  al- 
ways happens,  the  temporary  prosperity  had  been  taken  for 
a  continuing,  or  even  an  increasing  prosperity,  with  the 
consequence  that  the  people  had  launched  out  into  an  ex- 
travagant way  of  living,  the  smallest  shopkeeper  demanding 
mutton  and  beef  instead  of  the  fat  pork  and  hot  milk  which 
had  formerly  been  counted  a  good  dinner,  drinking  the  wine 
of  Lisbon  and  Madeira  where  he  formerly  drank  small  ale, 
and  even  taking  his  dish  of  tea  in  the  afternoon  for  the 
good  of  his  megrims  and  the  clearance  of  his  ill  humours. 

Oh  !  but  the  next  year  would  bring  another  flood  of  for- 
tune ;  they  could  wait.  Therefore  they  passed  the  winter 
in  such  habits  of  profuseness  as  I  have  indicated.  Spring 
arrived,  and  they  began  to  furbish  their  lodgings  anew  and 
to  look  to  their  stores  and  stocks.  The  month  of  May 
brought  warmth  and  sunshine,  but  it  did  not  bring  the  ex- 
pected company.  May  passed  ;  June  passed.  To  the  un- 
speakable consternation  of  the  town,  no  visitors  came  at  all 
— none.  With  one  consent  all  stayed  at  home  or  went 
elsewhere.  I  have  never  heard  any  explanation  of  this 
remarkable  falling  off.  That  is  to  say,  there  were  many 
reasons  offered,  but  none  that  seemed  sufficient.  Thus, 
the  ladies  of  Norfolk  had  taken  a  holiday  which  was  costly 
and  could  not  be  repeated  every  year.  It  was  like  a  visit 
to  London,  which  is  made  once  in  a  life  and  is  talked  about 
for  the  rest  of  that  life.  Or  the  losses  of  the  gentlemen  at 
the  gaming  table  frightened  them ;  they  would  not  again  be 
led  into  temptation  ;  or  the  grand  invention  of  Sam  Semple 
had  to  be  blown  upon ;  or  the  rheumatic  and  the  gouty 
who  had  taken  the  waters  now  found  that  they  were  in  no 


3io  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

way  the  better;  or  the  scandal  of  those  conspirators  in  high 
rank  drove  people  away — indeed,  such  an  exposure  could 
do  no  good  to  any  place  of  resort. 

There  were,  therefore,  after  the  event,  many  explanations 
offered,  and  every  one  may  choose  for  himself.  It  is,  how- 
ever, certain  that  no  visitors  came;  that  the  pump  room 
was  deserted,  save  for  the  few  people  of  the  town ;  that 
there  was  no  need  to  engage  music  or  to  provide  provisions 
or  do  anything,  for  no  one  came.  The  spa  had  enjoyed  its 
brief  hour  of  popularity,  and  was  now  dead. 

This  was  a  blow  to  the  town,  from  which  it  was  slow, 
indeed,  to  recover.  Many  of  the  shopkeepers  were  unable 
to  pay  their  rents  or  to  sell  their  stocks.  Simplicity  of 
manners  returned  with  the  fat  pork  and  the  hot  milk ;  and 
as  for  the  promised  accession  of  wealth,  I  believe  that  the 
spa  left  our  people  poorer  than  it  found  them. 

I  have  been  told  that  this  has  been  the  fate  of  many  spas. 
First  there  is  a  blind  belief  in  the  sovereign  virtue  of  the 
well ;  at  the  outset  the  place  is  crowded  with  visitors ;  there 
is  every  kind  of  amusement  and  pleasure ;  then  this  confi- 
dence becomes  less  and  presently  vanishes  altogether,  and 
is  transferred  to  some  other  well.  As  faith  decays  so  the 
company  grows  thinner  and  less  distinguished.  There  was 
formerly,  I  believe,  a  fashionable  spa  near  London,  at  a 
place  called  Hampstead.  This  spa  had  such  a  rise,  such  a 
period  of  prosperity,  and  such  a  fall.  Another  spa  which 
also  rose,  flourished  and  then  decayed  and  is  now  deserted, 
was  the  spa  of  Epsom,  a  village  some  miles  south  of  Lon- 
don. These  places,  however,  lasted  more  than  a  single 
season.  Our  spa  lived  but  for  two  or  three  short  months 
and  then  passed  away.  To  be  sure  it  was  a  pretence  and 
a  sham  from  the  outset,  but  people  did  not  know  its  origin ; 
Sam  Semple,  its  sole  creator,  remained  unknown  and  un- 
suspected. 

I  know  not,  I  say,  how  the  belief  in  the  doctor's  well 
came  so  suddenly  to  an  end.  I  do  know,  however,  that 
the  disappointment  of  the  doctor,  and,  with  him,  all  who 
let  lodgings,  kept  taverns,  provided  victuals,  and  sold  things 
of  any  kind,  was  very  bitter  when  the  next  spring  brought 
no  company.  They  waited,  I  say,  expectant,  all  through 
the  summer.  When  it  became  quite  certain  that  the  spa 


THE  BUBBLE  AND  THE  SKY  ROCKET     311 

was  really  dead,  they  began  sorrowfully  to  pull  down  the 
rooms  and  to  take  away  the  fence,  and  they  left  the  gardens 
to  weeds  and  decay.  And  then  the  town  relapsed  once 
more  into  its  former,  and  present,  condition.  That  is  to 
say,  it  became  again  unknown  to  the  fashionable  world; 
the  gentry  of  Norfolk  resorted  to  Norwich  again ;  they 
forgot  that  they  once  came  to  Lynn ;  the  place  lies  in  a 
corner  with  the  reclaimed  marshes  on  either  hand  ;  it  is  in- 
accessible except  to  those  whose  business  takes  them  there ; 
travellers  do  not  visit  the  town ;  it  is  not  like  Harwich,  or 
Dover,  or  Hull,  a  place  which  carries  on  communication 
by  packet  with  foreign  countries ;  it  is  a  town  shrunken 
within  its  former  limits,  its  courts  encumbered  with  deserted 
and  ruinous  houses,  its  streets  quiet  and  silent.  Yet  it  is 
prosperous  in  a  quiet  way ;  it  has  its  foreign  trade,  its  port, 
and  its  shipping ;  its  merchants  are  substantial ;  the  life 
which  they  lead  is  monotonous,  but  they  do  not  feel  the 
monotony.  Except  for  an  occasional  riot  among  drunken 
sailors  there  is  no  work  for  the  justices  of  the  peace,  and 
no  occupants  of  the  prison.  At  least  we  have  no  great 
lady  using  her  charms,  her  gracious  smiles,  her  rank  in 
order  to  lure  our  young  men  to  their  destruction ;  we  have 
no  profligate  parsons ;  we  have  no  noble  lords  parading  in 
the  borrowed  plumes  of  saint  and  confessor. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

THE    OPINION    OF    COUNSEL 

MEANTIME  we  waited  expectant,  and  in  uncertainty.  It 
was  possible  that  the  pretended  husband  would  withdraw  his 
claims  and  that  nothing  more  would  be  heard  of  him.  It 
was  possible,  I  say,  if  we  supposed  the  pretender  capable 
of  honour,  shame,  or  of  pride,  that  he  would  say,  in  so 
many  words  :  "  You  deny  the  marriage  ;  very  well,  I  will 
not  claim  a  wife  who  says  that  she  is  no  wife."  It  was, 
however,  far  more  probable  that  he  would  claim  his  wife 
and  exercise  his  rights  over  her  property.  What  should 
then  be  done  ? 

The  subject  exercised  the  "  Society  "  greatly  ;  every 
evening  the  situation  was  considered  from  all  possible 
points  of  view,  and  always  as  to  the  best  manner  of  pro- 
tecting Molly.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  vicar  wrote  out 
the  statement  which  he  afterwards  laid  before  counsel  in 
London  in  order  to  obtain  an  opinion  on  its  legal  aspect. 

The  case  drawn  up  by  him  was  as  follows : 

1.  There  was   a  betrothal   between  the  two  parties  A. 
(standing  for  Lord  Fylingdale)  and  B.  (standing  for  Molly). 

2.  It  is  not  denied  that  a  private  marriage  had  been  agreed 
upon  by  both  parties. 

3.  The  marriage  was  to  take  place  on  a  certain  morning 
at  the  time  of  six  at  a  certain  church.     B.  undertook  to 
wear  a  certain  pink  silk  cloak  with  a  hood  drawn  over  her 
head,  and  a  domino  to  conceal  her  face,  so  that  the  people 
of  the  town  should  not  recognise  her  and  crowd  into  the 
church. 

4.  At  the  appointed  hour  of  six  A.  presented  himself  at 
the  church. 

5.  At  the   same  hour  a  woman   also  presented  herself 
dressed  as  had  been  arranged,  wearing  a  domino  to  prevent 
recognition  in  the  street,  and  a  cloak  of  pink  silk  with  a 
hood. 

312 


THE  OPINION  OF  COUNSEL  313 

6.  The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed   by  a  clergy- 
man in  due  form  and  on  the  production  of  a  licence  by  A. 

7.  The  marriage  was   duly  entered   in  the  register  and 
signed,  the  woman  signing  in  the  name  of  B. 

8.  There  was  present  at  the  wedding,  besides  the  clergy- 
man, the  parish  clerk,  who  gave  away  the  bride,  read  the 
responses,  and  signed  as  witness. 

9.  Part  of  the  ceremony,  including  the  essential  words, 
was  witnessed  by  one  John  Pentecrosse,  mate  of  The  Lady 
of  Lynn. 

10.  Since   A.  had   no   reason   to  suppose  that  B.  would 
not  keep  her  promife,  it  would  seem  impossible  for  him  to 
have  found  at  the  last  moment  some  other  woman  to  per- 
sonate B. 

This  was  the  case  for  A.,  put  as  strongly  and  as  plainly 
as  possible.  I  confess  that  when  I  read  it  I  was  staggered 
by  the  case — especially  that  of  the  last  clause.  Certainly, 
as  I  had  not  delivered  Molly's  letter,  A.  had  no  reason  for 
supposing  that  B.  would  fail  to  keep  her  promise,  and  there- 
fore no  reason  for  suborning  some  other  woman  into  a  con- 
spiracy. 

However,  then  followed  Molly's  case. 

1.  She  had  accepted  A.'s  offer  of  marriage. 

2.  She  had  promised  to  meet  A.  at  6  A.  M. 

3.  She  had  received  the  evening  before  this  promise  was 
to  be  kept  information  which  represented  A.  in  a  light  that 
made  it  impossible  for  a  virtuous  woman  to  marry  him. 

4.  This  information  was  embodied  in  three  letters  ad- 
dressed respectively  to  the  vicar,  to  the  schoolmaster  and  to 
Captain  Crowle.     They  can  be  produced  on  evidence. 

5.  On  receipt  of  this  information  she  wrote  a  letter  to 
A.  stating  that  she  must  have   full  explanation  as  to  the 
charges  brought  against  him  before  proceeding  further  in  the 
business. 

6.  This  letter  was  not  delivered,  the  bearer  having  his 
mind  full  of  other  points  connected  with  the  affair. 

7.  At    half-past    five   B.  left   her   room    and  joined   her 
mother  in  certain  household  work.     Nor  did  she  leave  her 
mother  during  the  morning.     This  fact  is  attested  by  the 
mother  and  a  certain  black  woman,  B.'s  servant. 

8.  The  only  way  out  of  the  house  into  the  street  is  by 


3H  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  garden.  Captain  Crowle  was  walking  in  the  garden 
from  half-past  five  till  seven  and  saw  no  one  leave  the 
house. 

9.  At  seven  or  thereabouts  the  musicians,  with  the  butch- 
ers, arrived  to  congratulate  the  bride,  and  were  sent  away 
by  Captain  Crowle. 

10.  Later  on,  A.'s  secretary  arrived  with  a  message  from 
A.     He  was  informed   by  B.  that  no  marriage  had  taken 
place. 

11.  Captain  Crowle  then  waited  on  A.  and  demanded 
explanation.     He  received  answer  that  having  married  the 
lady,  A.  was  not  called  upon  to  give  any  explanations. 

12.  In  the   evening,  before  the  whole   company  at   the 
assembly,  the  vicar  charged  A.  with  many  acts  unworthy 
of  a  man  of  honour,  and,  among  other  things,  with  having 
conspired  with  a  woman  unknown  to  personate  B.,  and  to 
set  up  the  pretence  of  a  marriage. 

Opinion  was  asked  as  to  the  position  of  B.  Would  she 
be  considered  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  as  a  married  woman  ? 
Had  A.  any  rights  over  her  or  over  her  property  ?  Could 
she  marry  another  man  ?  What  steps  should  she  take  to 
protect  herself  and  her  property  ?  Observe,  that  unless  B. 
could  be  declared  not  to  be  the  wife  of  A.  she  could  not 
alienate,  give  away,  or  part  with  any  of  her  property  ;  she 
could  not  marry ;  she  was  doomed  to  be  a  wife  at  the  mercy 
of  a  man  more  pitiless  than  a  tiger,  yet  not  a  wife,  for  she 
would  die  rather  than  marry  him.  She  must  wait  until 
heaven  should  take  pity  upon  her  and  despatch  this  man. 
Such  men,  it  is  observedx  do  never  live  long,  but  they  may 
live  long  enough  to  inflict  irreparable  mischief  upon  their 
unfortunate  victims. 

Molly  read  the  case  thus  drawn  up  very  carefully.  "  My 
only  trust,"  she  said,  "  is  in  the  evidence  of  mother  and 
Nigra.  I  confess  that  I  cannot  understand  how,  without 
knowing  that  I  should  fail,  he  could  possibly  procure  that 
woman  to  personate  me.  Has  he  the  power  of  working 
miracles  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  miracle  here,"  I  said,  "  except  the  miracle 
of  wickedness  greater  than  would  be  thought  possible. 
Patience,  Molly]  Sooner  or  later  we  shall  find  it  out." 

"  It  will  be  later,  I  fear." 


THE  OPINION  OF  COUNSEL  315 

"  There  are  three  at  least  in  the  plot.  The  clerk  has 
been  deceived  ;  Sam  Semple  has  not  been  consulted.  These 
are  the  three — Lord  Fylingdale,  the  parson,  who  is,  doubt- 
less, well  paid  for  his  villainy,  and  the  woman,  whoever  she 
may  be.  We  shall  find  out  the  truth  through  the  woman." 

u  Since  his  marriage  would  give  him  the  command  of 
my  property,  Jack,  and  since  he  was  ruined,  why  does  he 
make  no  sign  ?  " 

This  was  a  week  or  two  after  the  event.  I  suppose  that 
Lord  Fylingdale  was  making  himself  assured  as  to  the 
strength  of  his  position  and  his  rights.  However,  we  were 
not  to  wait  very  long. 

"  I  am  of  opinion,"  said  the  vicar,  after  many  discussions 
on  the  case  thus  drawn  out,  "that  we  should  lay  the  facts 
before  some  counsel  learned  in  the  law,  and  ascertain  our 
position.  If  we  are  to  contest  the  claim  in  court,  we  have, 
at  least,  the  money  to  spend  upon  it." 

"  We  will  spend,"  said  the  captain,  "  our  last  penny  upon 
it."  He  meant  the  last  penny  of  his  ward's  fortune,  in 
which,  as  you  will  hear,  he  was  quite  wrong,  because  he 
had  now  no  power  to  spend  any  of  it. 

It  was,  therefore,  determined  that  the  vicar  should  under- 
take the  journey  to  London  ;  that  my  father  should  accom- 
pany him ;  that  they  should  not  only  obtain  the  advice  and 
opinion  of  a  lawyer,  but  that  they  should  ascertain,  through 
the  bookseller,  my  father's  cousin,  or  any  other  person, 
what  they  could  concerning  the  private  life  of  his  lordship. 
"There  is  no  saying  what  we  may  discover,"  said  the 
vicar.  "  How,  if  there  is  another  wife  still  living  ?  Even 
a  noble  lord  cannot  have  two  wives  at  the  same  time." 

It  seems  strange  that  one  must  make  greater  preparations 
for  a  journey  to  London  by  land  than  a  voyage  to  Lisbon 
by  sea.  As  regards  the  latter,  my  kit  is  put  together  in  an 
hour  or  two,  and  I  am  then  ready  to  embark.  But  as  regards 
the  former,  these  two  travellers  first  considered  the  easiest 
way ;  then  the  cost  of  the  journey,  and  that  of  their  stay 
in  London  ;  then  the  departure  of  others,  so  as  to  form  a 
company  against  highway  robbers  ;  they  then  arranged  for 
the  halting  and  resting-places;  hired  their  horses,  for  they 
were  to  ride  all  the  way ;  engaged  a  servant ;  made  their 
wills,  and  so  at  last  were  ready  to  begin  the  journey.  Their 


3i6  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

company  consisted  of  two  or  three  riders  to  merchants  of 
London,  who  travel  all  over  the  country  visiting  the  shop- 
keepers in  the  interests  of  their  masters.  They  are  excel- 
lent fellow-travellers,  being  accustomed  to  the  road,  having 
no  fear  of  highwaymen,  knowing  the  proper  charges  that 
should  be  made  at  the  roadside  inns,  and  knowing,  as  well, 
what  each  house  can  be  best  trusted  to  provide,  the  home 
brewed  ale  being  good  at  one  house,  and  the  wine  at  an- 
other— and  so  forth.  They  reckoned  five  days  for  the 
journey  if  the  weather  continued  fine — it  was  then  July, 
and  the  height  of  summer.  The  vicar  thought  that  per- 
haps a  week  or  ten  days  would  suffice  for  their  business  in 
town,  and  therefore  we  might  expect  them  back  in  three 
weeks.  Captain  Crowle  would  have  gone  with  them,  but 
was  fearful  of  losing  his  ward.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life  he  barred  and  bolted  his  doors  at  night,  and  if  he  went 
abroad  he  left  his  house  in  the  custody  of  his  gardener,  a 
stout  country  lad  who  would  make  a  sturdy  fight  in  case  of 
any  attempt  at  violence.  But  violence  was  not  a  weapon 
which  was  in  favour  with  his  lordship.  And  if  it  had 
been,  the  whole  town  would  have  risen  in  defence  of  Molly. 

For  three  weeks,  therefore,  we  waited.  I,  for  my  part, 
in  greater  anxiety  than  the  rest,  "because  my  ship  had  now 
received  her  cargo,  and  I  feared  that  we  should  have  to 
weigh  anchor  and  slip  down  the  river  before  the  return  of 
our  messengers.  And  at  this  time  when  we  knew  not  what 
would  happen  or  what  we  should  do  many  wild  schemes 
came  into  my  head.  We  would  carry  the  girl  away ;  we 
would  foreclose  her  mortgages,  sell  her  lands,  and  carry  her 
fortune  with  her ;  we  would  sail  in  one  of  her  own  ships 
across  the  Atlantic  and  make  a  new  home  for  her  in  the 
American  colonies.  However,  in  the  end  we  had,  as  you 
shall  learn,  to  accept  misfortune  and  to  resign  ourselves  to 
what  promised  to  be  a  lifelong  penalty  inflicted  for  no  sins 
of  Molly's — who  was  as  free  from  sin  as  any  woman,  not 
a  saint,  can  hope  to  be — but  by  the  wickedness  of  a  man 
whose  life  and  ways  were  far  removed  from  Molly,  and 
might  have  been  supposed  to  be  incapable  of  afflicting  her 
in  any  way. 

Our  friends,  therefore,  started  on  their  journey,  arriving 
in  due  time  at  London,  when  they  began  their  business 


THE  OPINION  OF  COUNSEL  317 

without  delay.  Briefly,  they  were  recommended  to  a  very 
learned  counsel,  old,  and  in  great  practice,  whose  opinions 
were  more  highly  valued  than  those  perhaps  of  any  other 
lawyer.  He  was  avaricious,  and  it  was  necessary  to  pay 
him  a  very  handsome  fee  before  he  would  consider  the  case. 
When  he  accepted  the  fee  he  gave  it  his  most  careful  con- 
sideration. His  opinion  was  as  follows : 

"The  fact  that  there  was  a  marriage  between  A.  and 
some  woman — B.  or  another — is  undoubted.  The  evidence 
of  the  parish  clerk  may  be  set  aside  except  to  prove  this 
fact,  because  it  does  not  appear  that  the  bride  removed  her 
domino.  It  might,  however,  become  a  part  of  B.'s  case 
that  the  clergyman  did  not  witness  the  removal  of  the 
domino.  What  the  clerk  saw  was  a  woman  dressed  in  a 
pink  silk  cloak  with  a  hood  over  her  head,  and  a  domino 
concealing  her  face,  who  signed  the  name  of  Mary  Miller. 
For  the  same  reason  the  evidence  of  John  Pentecrosse  rests 
only  on  the  dress  of  the  bride,  and  may  therefore  be  taken 
as  worth  that  and  no  more. 

"  At  the  same  time  the  dress  of  the  bride  is  important. 
A.  had  no  intimation  of  B.'s  refusal  to  keep  her  promise. 
At  six  o'clock,  as  is  allowed,  he  presented  himself.  If  B. 
was  not  there,  how  should  he  be  able,  at  a  moment's  notice, 
to  procure  a  woman  to  personate  her,  wearing  a  cloak  of 
the  same  colour  as  B.'s,  and  ready  to  sign  her  name  falsely  ? 
The  theory  is  impossible,  for  it  demands  a  whole  chain  of 
fortuitous  occurrences  and  coincidences,  as  that  A.  should 
find  a  woman  of  abandoned  character  accidentally  near  the 
church,  ready  to  commit  this  crime,  dressed  as  B.  was  ex- 
pected to  dress,  and  considered  worthy  of  trust  with  so  great 
a  secret.  On  the  other  hand  we  have  evidences  of  an  ap- 
parently conclusive  kind.  B.'s  guardian,  who  was  taking 
the  morning  air  in  his  garden,  says  positively  that  no  one 
left  the  house.  B.'s  mother  and  her  black  servant  declare 
that  B.  was  in  the  kitchen  with  them  all  the  morning. 
This,  I  say,  seems  at  first  conclusive.  But  the  court  would 
probably  hold  that  a  mother's  evidence  is  likely  to  be  in  the 
supposed  interests  of  her  child,  while  a  negress  would  be 
expected,  if  she  were  attached  to  her  mistress,  to  give  any 
evidence  that  she  thought  likely  to  be  of  service  or  was 
directed  to  give. 


318  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  The  case  is  remarkable,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  without 
precedent.  It  is  supported  on  either  side  by  flat  assertions 
which  are  either  true  or  deliberate  perjuries.  As  regards 
the  bad  character  of  A.,  I  think  it  would  have  very  little 
weight.  Setting  aside,  that  is,  his  evil  reputation,  which 
might  perhaps  taint  his  evidence,  and  also  setting  aside  the 
partiality  of  a  mother,  which  might  also,  perhaps,  taint  her 
evidence,  we  have  the  broad  and  simple  facts  that  A.  had  no 
warning  of  B.'s  intention  to  keep  away  ;  that  he  presented 
himself  according  to  arrangement;  that  he  was  met  by  a 
woman  dressed  exactly  as  had  been  arranged  with  B. ;  that 
they  were  married ;  and  that  the  register  was  signed  by  the 
woman  in  the  name  of  B. 

"  I  am  of  opinion,  therefore,  that  if  this  case  is  brought 
into  court  there  will  be  pleadings  on  either  side  of  great  in- 
terest, and  that  the  court  will  decide  in  favour  of  A. ;  that 
if  the  case  goes  up  for  appeal  it  will  again  be  decided  in 
favour  of  A. ;  and  that  if  the  case  were  taken  up  to  the 
lords  that  court  would  also  decide  in  favour  of  A. 

"  If  action  is  taken  it  must  be  at  the  cost  and  charge  of 
the  guardian,  because  the  lady's  property,  in  default  of  set- 
tlements, would,  in  the  event  which  I  think  probable,  fall 
into  the  hands  of  A.  thus  adjudged  to  be  her  husband. 

"  I  advise,  therefore,  that  submission  be  made  to  A. ; 
that  even  though  B.  continues  to  deny  the  marriage,  A. 
shall  be  invited  to  make  her  a  suitable  provision  and  shall 
undertake  not  to  molest  her  or  to  compel  her  to  leave  her 
guardian  and  to  live  with  him." 

With  this  opinion  to  guide  him,  the  vicar  wrote  to  Lord 
Fylingdale  asking  for  an  interview. 

He  was  received  with  a  show  of  cold  politeness.  "  You 
have  given  me  reason,  sir,  to  remember  your  face.  How- 
ever, I  pass  over  the  injuries  which  you  allowed  yourself  to 
utter.  You  are  come,  I  presume,  in  the  name  of  my  un- 
fortunate wife,  who,  for  some  reason  unknown  to  me, 
denies  her  own  marriage.  Well,  sir,  your  message  ?  " 

"  My  message,  my  lord,  is  briefly  this.  We  have  taken 
counsel's  opinion  on  this  business." 

"  So  have  I." 

"  It  is,  on  the  whole,  to  the  effect  that  if  we  dispute  your 
lordship's  claims  we  shall  probably  lose." 


THE  OPINION  OF  COUNSEL  319 

"  My  own  counsel  is  also  of  that  opinion." 

"  For  my  own  part  I  shall  advise  my  friends  to  accept 
what  seems  impossible  to  deny." 

"  You  will  do  well.  I  shall  be  pleased,  I  confess,  to  see 
the  business  settled  without  taking  it  into  court." 

Ci  I  should  like,  if  possible,  to  carry  home  with  me  some 
concessions  of  your  lordship  in  response  to  this  submission." 

"  What  concessions  ?  It  seems  to  me  that  the  countess 
has  no  right  to  insist  upon  any  concession.  The  whole  of 
her  property,  as  you  know,  is  my  own." 

"  I  fear  that  is  the  case." 

"  I  shall  probably  make  certain  changes  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  property,  now  my  property.  I  shall  relieve 
the  worthy  captain  of  its  control.  As  regards  any  other 
point  you  must  acknowledge  that  you  have  treated  me  with 
insults  intolerable ;  you  are  not  in  a  position  to  make  terms. 
But  what  do  you  ask  ?  " 

"  First,  freedom  from  personal  molestation." 

"  That  is  granted  at  once.  You  may  tell  the  countess 
that  on  no  consideration  will  I  see  her,  nor  shall  I  exercise 
any  marital  rights.  When  she  consents  to  confess  her 
falsehood,  and  to  ask  pardon  for  her  offences,  I  may  per- 
haps extend  my  personal  protection,  not  otherwise." 

"  As  for  her  allowance — her  maintenance  ? " 

"Your  reverence  is  not  serious.  She  says  that  she  is 
not  my  wife.  The  law  says,  or,  is  prepared  to  say,  that 
she  is.  By  the  law  I  am  compelled  to  maintain  her.  Let 
her,  therefore,  invoke  the  intervention  of  the  law.  To  pro- 
cure this  she  will  have  to  confess  her  many  perjuries.  Till 
then,  nothing.  Do  you  understand,  sir  ?  Nothing." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 

THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION 

"  MOLLY,  my  dear."  The  captain's  voice  was  broken. 
"  It  is  my  doing — mine.  I  am  an  old  fool.  Yet  I  thought 
I  was  doing  the  best  for  you." 

"  Nay,"  said  Molly.  "  It  is  no  one's  fault.  It  is  my 
great  misfortune." 

"  Must  he  take  all  ? "  asked  the  captain. 

"  He  will  take  all  he  can  claim,"  the  vicar  answered. 
"  Revenge,  as  well  as  cupidity,  is  in  his  mind.  I  read  it 
through  the  cold  masque  of  pride  with  which  he  covers  his 
face  and  tries  to  conceal  himself.  He  will  be  revenged. 
He  is  like  unto  Lucifer  for  pride,  and  unto  Belial  for  wick- 
edness. Molly,  my  dear,  I  fear  thou  wilt  soon  be  poor  in- 
deed in  worldly  goods.  The  Lord  knoweth  what  is  best. 
He  leaveth  thee,  still,  the  friends  who  love  thee." 

The  mother  resumed  the  lamentations  which  she  never 
ceased. 

"  Molly  is  a  widow  who  cannot  marry  again — Molly  is 
a  wife  without  a  husband.  Oh,  Molly  !  My  poor  Molly  !" 

"  It  grieves  me  sore,"  said  the  vicar,  "  to  counsel  sub- 
mission. Yet  what  could  we  do  ?  How  can  we  explain 
this  great  mystery  that  he  who  knew  not  your  change  of 
purpose  should  in  a  moment  be  able  to  substitute,  in  your 
place,  at  the  hour  fixed,  a  woman  dressed  and  masked  as 
had  been  arranged  ?  There  is  no  explanation  possible,  and 
I  understand  very  clearly  that  this  fact  outweighs  all  the 
evidence  on  either  side.  There  is  nothing  to  be  done. 
We  must  submit,  saving  only  your  personal  freedom,  Molly. 
The  man  confesses  that  he  has  no  wish  to  molest  you,  and 
nothing  to  gain  by  any  molestation.  To  be  sure,  without 
it  he  can  take  what  he  pleases.  Your  presence,  indeed, 
would  be  a  hindrance  and  a  reproach  to  his  mode  of  life." 

So  we  talked  together,  with  sadness  and  heaviness.  Yet 
for  one  thing  I  was  well  pleased ;  that  Molly  had  not  been 

320 


"YOU   ARE   FAR   MOKE   PRECIOUS  THAN   ALL  THE  GOLD   AND   SILVER 
IN  THE  LAND." 


THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION  321 

forced  into  daily  companionship  with  this  man.  For  that 
would  have  killed  her — body  and  soul,  if  a  soul  can  be  de- 
stroyed by  despair  and  misery,  and  cruelty. 

"  Courage,  Molly  !  "  We  were  on  the  point  of  weigh- 
ing anchor — and  we  stood  on  the  quay  to  say  farewell. 
"  Things  will  get  right,  somehow.  Oh  !  I  know  they 
will.  I  cannot  tell  how  I  know.  Perhaps  we  shall  find 
the  woman.  Then  we  shall  explain  the  mystery  and  ex- 
pose the  cheat.  Perhaps — but  we  know  not  what  may 
happen.  As  for  your  fortune,  Molly,  that  is  as  good  as 
gone ;  but  you  yourself  remain,  and  you  are  far  more  pre- 
cious than  all  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  land." 

So  we  parted  and  for  five  months,  until  our  return,  I 
knew  nothing  of  what  was  done. 

You  may  easily  guess  what  was  done. 

First  of  all,  a  letter  came  from  London.  It  was  ad- 
dressed to  Captain  Crowle,  and  it  called  upon  him  to  pre- 
pare the  books  and  accounts  connected  with  the  estate  of 
Mary,  Countess  of  Fylingdale,  for  the  information  of  the 
Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Fylingdale.  It  was  written 
by  an  attorney,  and  it  announced  the  intention  of  the 
writer  to  send  down  a  person — one,  Stephen  Bisse,  attorney- 
at-law — duly  authorised  to  examine  and  to  audit  the  ac- 
counts, and  to  make  known  his  lordship's  intentions  as  re- 
gards the  administration  of  the  estate. 

The  captain,  ignorant  of  the  law,  took  the  letter  to  the 
vicar  for  advice. 

"This,"  said  the  latter,  "may  be  simply  a  first  step  to 
taking  over  the  whole  of  the  property,  or  it  may  be  the  first 
step  towards  a  system  of  revenge  and  persecution.  For  if 
the  attorney  who  comes  here  to  investigate  the  accounts 
finds  anything  irregular,  we  may  be  trapped  into  legal  ex- 
penses, and  heaven  knows,  what  to  follow." 

The  captain,  however,  had  not  commanded  a  ship  in 
vain ;  for  the  commanding  officer  of  a  ship  must  keep  the 
log  and  all  the  papers  connected  with  the  cargo,  lading,  and 
unlading,  pay  of  the  ship's  company,  port  dues,  and  every- 
thing. He  must,  in  a  word,  be  as  methodical  in  his  ac- 
counts as  any  quill  driver  ashore. 

"  He  may  examine  my  accounts  as  much  as  he  pleases," 
he  declared.  "  They  are  all  right." 


322  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"Nevertheless,  friend,  be  advised.  Place  the  whole 
business  in  the  hands  of  one  who  knows  the  law.  In  the 
end  it  may  be  far  cheaper." 

In  every  port  there  must  be  one  or  more  persons  skilled 
in  that  part  of  the  law  which  concerns  trade  and  commerce, 
imports  and  exports,  customs,  excise,  and  harbour  dues. 
At  Lynn  there  was  such  an  one,  attorney  and  notary ;  a 
man  of  great  probity  and  responsibility — Mr.  Nathaniel 
Redman  by  name.  To  him  the  captain  entrusted  the 
papers  of  the  estate.  These  papers,  which  had  been  ac- 
cumulating for  eighteen  years,  and  represented  the  increase 
and  the  administration  of  a  very  large  estate,  were  now  vo- 
luminous to  the  highest  degree.  The  mere  perusal  of  them 
would  entail  the  labour  of  many  attorneys  for  many  weeks, 
while  the  audit  of  the  whole,  bit  by  bit,  would  engage  the 
same  persons  many  months,  or  even  years. 

"  The  Earl  of  Fylingdale  will  have  the  accounts  audited, 
will  he  ?  "  said  Mr.  Redman.  "  Then  his  lordship  is  in  no 
immediate  want  of  money." 

"  Why  ?     Cannot  he  take  what  he  wants  ?  " 

"  Sir,  you  are  the  lady's  guardian ;  you  have  to  be  re- 
leased from  your  trust  before  you  hand  over  the  property. 
Without  such  a  release  you  will  keep  the  whole.  That 
means,  that  his  lordship  must  wait  for  the  long  and  tedious 
business  of  a  complete  audit.  I  say  long  and  tedious,  be- 
cause, if  the  examination  of  accounts  is  undertaken  in  a 
spirit  of  hostility,  we  can  raise  in  our  turn  objection  after 
objection  by  going  back  to  the  commencement  of  the  trust. 
In  other  words,  captain,  if  your  papers  are  all  preserved, 
which  I  doubt  not,  we  shall  be  in  a  position  to  delay  the 
acquisition  of  the  estate  by  the  earl  almost  indefinitely." 

"  But  at  whose  charge  ?  "  asked  the  vicar.  "  For  the 
captain  has  no  means  of  paying  heavy  expenses." 

"  At  the  charge  of  the  estate.  Oh  !  sir,  do  not  think 
that  an  attorney  of  London,  to  say  nothing  of  myself,  would 
embark  upon  so  large  a  business  save  at  the  charge  of  the 
estate  itself." 

"  It  is,  then,  in  your  interest  to  prolong  this  examination 
into  the  accounts  ?  " 

"  It  is,  most  certainly,  in  the  interest  of  this  gentleman 
from  London  and  of  myself;  but,"  he  sighed  heavily,  "  if 


THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION  323 

all  reports  are  true,  I  do  not  believe  that  Lord  Fylingdale 
will  prolong  the  inquiry." 

The  person  who  was  promised  presently  arrived  with  his 
credentials.  He  was  quite  a  young  man,  apparently  about 
two  or  three  and  twenty  ;  his  letter  to  Captain  Crowle  de- 
scribed him  as  an  attorney-at-law.  He  was  quick  of  speech 
and  of  the  greatest  possible  assurance  in  manner.  In  ap- 
pearance he  was  small  of  stature,  pasty-faced,  and  with  a 
turned-up  nose,  the  possession  of  which  should  be  regarded 
by  the  owner  as  a  misfortune  and  personal  defect,  like  a 
round  back.  It  is  said,  on  the  other  hand,  to  be  an  indica- 
tion of  great  self-conceit. 

He  came,  therefore,  was  set  down  at  the  "  Crown,"  and 
inquired  for  the  residence  of  Captain  Crowle,  on  whom  he 
called  without  delay. 

The  captain  received  him  in  his  summerhouse.  He 
read  the  letter,  introducing  and  describing  him.  Then  he 
laid  it  down  and  looked  at  his  visitor  cursorily.  "  Oh  !  " 
he  said,  "  you  are  the  attorney  of  Lord  Fylingdale,  are  you, 
and  you  want  to  make  an  audit  of  my  accounts  ?  You've 
come  all  the  way  from  London  on  purpose  to  make  that 
audit,  have  you  ?  Well,  sir,  you  will  carry  this  letter  to 
Mr.  Nathaniel  Redman,  and  you  will  give  it  to  him." 

"  Who  is  Mr.  Redman  ?  I  know  of  no  Redman  in  this 
business." 

"  He  is  an  attorney-at-law,  like  yourself,  young  man,  and 
he  is  a  notary,  and  this  job  is  turned  over  to  him." 

"  Oh  !  I  understood,  Captain  Crowle,  that  I  should  con- 
fer with  you  personally." 

"  Did  you  so  ?  Well,  sir,  if  you  will  see  Mr.  Redman 
you  can  confer  with  him  instead.  The  job  is  his." 

The  captain,  in  fact,  had  been  warned  not  to  make  any 
communications  or  to  hold  any  conversation  with  the  at- 
torney. He  felt  himself  only  safe,  therefore,  in  repeating 
that  the  job  was  Mr.  Redman's. 

"  We  may,  however,  come  to  some  preliminary,  Captain 
Crowle.  The  estate  now " 

The  captain  waved  his  hand  in  the  direction  of  the 
garden  door.  "  The  job,  young  man,  is  Mr.  Redman's. 
There  is  your  letter.  Take  it  to  him." 

Mr.  Bisse  accordingly  retired  and  repaired  to  the  office 


324  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

and  residence  of  Mr.  Redman — to  whom  he  gave  his 
letter. 

"  We  shall  have  no  difficulties,  I  presume,"  he  said. 

"  I  hope  not." 

"  Of  course,  I  know  the  law  in  these  matters — I  can 
direct  you " 

"Young  gentleman" — Mr.  Redman  was  well  stricken 
in  years — "I  could  direct  your  father.  But  go  on.  You 
will  proceed  in  accordance  with  your  powers.  I  shall  take 
good  care  that  you  keep  within  your  powers.  Now,  sir, 
what  do  you  propose  ?  " 

Mr.  Redman  spoke  from  the  commanding  position  of  an 
armchair  before  a  large  table ;  he  was  also  a  large  and  im- 
posing man  to  look  at  while  Mr.  Bisse  stood  before  him, 
small  and  insignificant,  his  original  impudence  fast  desert- 
ing him.  As  for  Mr.  Redman,  his  professional  pride  was 
aroused ;  this  young  Skip  Jack  dared  to  direct  him  in  mat- 
ters of  law,  did  he  ? 

"  I  am,  I  confess,"  said  Mr.  Bisse,  "  disappointed  to  find 
that  my  noble  client's  advances  are  received  with  suspicion. 
I  hoped  that  Captain  Crowle  would  have  met  me  in  a  spirit 
of  confidence." 

"  Come,  sir,  between  ourselves  what  has  your  noble 
client  to  complain  of?  He  sends  an  attorney  here.  Cap- 
tain Crowle  meets  him  in  the  person  of  an  attorney." 

"Well,  it  matters  not.  Captain  Crowle  has,  no  doubt, 
reasons  of  his  own  for  his  action.  We  must,  however, 
since  we  are  men  of  business  as  you  say,  demand  an  exact 
audit.  The  interests  involved  are,  I  understand,  very  con- 
siderable ?  " 

"  They  are  very  considerable." 

"  I  shall,  however,  ask  for  an  advance  of  ten  thousand 
pounds  to  be  made  to  his  lordship  on  account." 

"  An  advance  ?  The  guardian  to  advance  money  before 
you  have  audited  the  accounts  ?  My  dear  sir,  are  you 
serious  ? " 

"  You  admit  that  there  will  be  a  great  deal  more  than 
£10,000." 

"  I  admit  nothing  that  is  not  proved." 

4  Then  you  refuse  to  give  my  client  anything  ?  "  His 
air  of  assurance  began  to  desert  him.  In  fact,  he  had  been 


THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION  325 

especially  charged  to  open  the  proceedings  by  demanding 
such  an  advance. 

"We  refuse  to  do  anything  illegal.  The  papers  will 
show  the  extent  and  the  nature  of  the  estate.  You  can 
then  claim  the  whole.  But  you  must  first  send  in  your 
claim  and  be  prepared  with  the  release." 

Mr.  Bisse  hesitated.  "  My  instructions  are  to  demand  a 
strict  scrutiny  of  all  the  accounts." 

"  They  are  waiting  for  you.  Would  you  like  to  see  the 
papers?"  Mr.  Redman  led  him  into  an  adjoining  room 
where  on  shelves  and  on  the  tables  the  books  and  papers 
were  laid  out  in  order — tied  up  and  labelled.  "  My  clerk," 
said  Mr.  Redman,  "  will  go  through  these  papers  with  you. 
I  shall  look  on." 

"  All  these  papers  ? "  Mr.  Bisse  gazed  with  dismay 
upon  the  piles  before  him. 

"  You  will  have  to  peruse,  to  examine,  to  pass  every 
scrap  of  paper  in  this  room.  Captain  Crowle,  sir,  is  the 
most  methodical  man  in  the  world." 

"  All  these  papers  ?     But  it  will  take  months." 

"Years,  perhaps.     You  have  your  instructions." 

"  Sir,"  said  Mr.  Bisse,  crestfallen,  "  I  must  write  to  my 
principals  for  further  instructions." 

"  That  will  probably  be  your  best  course.  Good-morn- 
ing, sir." 

Mr.  Bisse  wrote  accordingly.  Meanwhile  he  made  an- 
other attempt  to  assert  his  authority.  He  went  to  the 
quay,  looked  about  him  with  satisfaction  at  the  proofs  and 
evidences  of  brisk  trade,  and  entered  the  counting-house 
where  the  clerks  were  at  work. 

"  My  name,"  he  said  pompously,  "  is  Bisse,  Mr.  Stephen 
Bisse,  attorney-at-law.  I  am  here  as  attorney  for  the 
Right  Honourable  the  Earl  of  Fylingdale." 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  asked  the  chief  clerk. 

"  You  will  at  once  show  me  your  ledgers,  your  day 
books,  and  the  books  used  by  you  in  your  daily  busi- 
ness." 

"You  must  go  to  Mr.  Redman,  sir.  His  office  is  beside 
the  customhouse.  Without  his  permission  we  can  do 
nothing  for  you." 

Mr.  Redman  had  been  before  him,  you  see. 


326  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"You   refuse   me,  at  your  peril,"    said   Mr.    Bisse.      I 


am 


"  You  will  go  out  of  the  counting-house,  sir,"  said  the 
chief  clerk,  "  and  you  will  leave  the  quay.  We  take  our 
orders  from  Mr.  Redman  in  place  of  Captain  Crowle." 

So  Mr.  Bisse  departed.  He  walked  from  the  quay  to  the 
Common  Stathe,  and  there,  looking  at  the  ships  lying 
moored  in  the  stream,  he  asked  a  waterman  if  by  chance 
any  of  them  belonged  to  Captain  Crowle. 

The  man  pointed  to  one.  "Then,"  said  Mr.  Bisse, 
"  take  me  to  that  ship." 

Mr.  Redman  had  been  before  him  here  as  well.  He 
climbed  up  the  ladder  and  was  about  to  step  on  the  deck 
when  the  mate  accosted  him. 

"  What  is  your  business,  friend  ?  "  he  asked. 

Mr.  Bisse  replied  as  he  had  done  in  the  counting- 
house. 

"  Well,  sir,"  said  the  mate,  "  you  can't  come  aboard 
here.  Strangers  are  not  allowed  aboard  this  ship  without 
an  order  from  Captain  Crowle  or  Mr.  Redman." 

So,  Mr.  Bisse  had  to  go  ashore  again. 

He  found,  I  fear,  the  town  of  Lynn  inhospitable.  In 
fact,  everybody  was  in  favour  of  Molly,  and  the  name  of 
Lord  Fylingdale  stank.  No  one  would  speak  to  him.  He 
wandered  about  waiting  for  a  reply  to  his  letter  asking  for 
further  instructions  in  a  disconsolate  and  crestfallen  spirit, 
very  different  from  the  confident  assurance  which  he  had 
shown  on  his  arrival. 

His  new  instructions  reached  him  in  about  ten  days. 
Again  he  waited  on  Mr.  Redman. 

"  Well,  sir  ?  "  asked  the  latter.  "  You  are  come  to  di- 
rect me  in  matters  of  law  ?  " 

"  I  have  received  new  instructions,"  the  young  man  put 
the  question  aside,  "  from  my  principals.  They  are  to  the 
effect  that  if  you  will  draw  up  for  me  a  schedule  of  the 
whole  estate,  I  am  to  forward  it  to  London,  and  to  receive 
orders  thereupon  as  to  what  part  of  the  accounts  I  must 
specially  examine." 

"Sir,  at  the  outset  I  refuse  to  accept  anything  but  a 
general  release.  You  will  represent  to  your  principals  that 
every  part  of  this  complicated  estate  is  involved  with  the 


THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION  327 

whole  transactions  which  precede  it.  That  is  to  say, every 
purchase  of  a  farm  or  a  house  has  to  be  made  by  combined 
savings  from  every  source  of  income,  consequently,  any 
special  line  of  investigation  will  necessitate  a  wide  and  pro- 
longed examination." 

"  I  perceive  that  you  are  determined  to  give  u«  trouble." 

"  Not  so,  sir.  We  are  determined  to  resist  persecution. 
Your  instructions,  if  I  understand  them  aright,  were  to  fix 
upon  Captain  Crowle  some  difficulty,  and,  if  possible,  to 
accuse  him  of  malversation."  Mr.  Bisse  changed  colour. 
That  was,  in  fact,  the  secret  instruction.  "  Now,  sir,  we 
have  all  our  papers  in  order,  and  you  will  find  it  impossible, 
while  I  stand  at  your  elbow,  to  discover  or  to  invent  a  loop- 
hole. At  the  same  time,  I  shall  prolong  the  investigation 
if  you  once  enter  upon  it  as  much  as  possible.  You  may 
inform  your  principals  of  this,  and  you  will  return  as  soon 
as  you  have  further  instructions." 

"  Will  you  not,  at  least,  prepare  a  schedule  of  the 
property  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  You  shall  have  this  prepared  in  readiness 
for  your  next  visit,  which  will  be,  I  suppose,  in  another  ten 
days.  I  hope  you  find  your  stay  pleasant." 

"  No,  sir,  it  is  not  pleasant.  At  the  inn  the  people  are 
barely  civil,  and  I  am  treated  everywhere  as  if  I  were  a 
Frenchman." 

"  No ;  not  a  Frenchman,  but  the  attorney  of  Lord 
Fylingdale." 

Mr.  Redman  addressed  himself,  therefore,  with  the  aid 
of  the  captain,  to  the  schedule.  The  estate  was  far  greater 
than  he  had  anticipated. 

"  Why,"  he  said,  "  you  are  surprised  that  a  noble  earl 
should  marry  this  girl  for  her  money.  Had  the  world  sus- 
pected the  truth,  there  would  have  been  an  abduction  every 
week."  He  then  proceeded  to  go  through  the  long  list  of 
lands,  houses,  mortgages,  money  lying  idle,  jewels,  and 
everything.  "  The  only  charge  upon  the  estate  seems  to 
be  an  annuity  of  ,£150  a  year  for  the  mother.  What 
money  have  you  taken  for  maintenance  ?  " 

"  Why,  none." 

"None  ?  Did  the  girl  live  on  air?  And  what  for  your 
own  services  ?  " 


328  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Nothing ;  we  lived  rent  free.  It  is  Molly's  own 
house ;  and  her  mother's  money  kept  the  household." 

"  Well,  but — captain — the  thing  is  incredible.  You  have 
conducted  the  whole  business  from  the  death  of  Molly's 
father  to  the  present  day  actually  for  nothing." 

"  It  was  for  the  little  maid." 

"  Captain,  you  have  acted,  I  dare  say,  for  the  best.  But 
with  submission,  you  have  acted  like  a  fool.  However,  it 
is  not  too  late  to  remedy.  I  shall  charge  the  estate,  which 
will  now  become  Lord  Fylingdale's,  with  .£300  a  year,  your 
salary  for  administering  the  estate  and  for  managing  the 
business.  It  will  be  impossible  to  refuse  this  claim,  and  I 
shall  set  down  ^150  a  year  for  maintenance  of  your  ward." 

The  captain  stared.  Here  was  a  turning  of  the  tables, 
with  a  vengeance. 

"  The  claim  is  just,  reasonable,  and  moderate.  I  shall 
not  advance  it  as  a  thing  to  be  objected  to.  You  will, 
meantime,  go  through  the  accounts ;  take  out  £450  a  year ; 
this  for  eighteen  years,  would  be  .£8,106;  but  the  money 
must  be  considered  as  used  for  investments.  You  will  there- 
fore set  apart  .£450  a  year,  and  as  soon  as  that  amounts  to  a 
sufficient  sum  to  be  represented  by  an  investment,  you  will 
set  apart  that  piece  of  property  as  your  own.  This  will 
represent  a  much  larger  sum  than  ;£8,ioo.  Your  ward  will 
not,  after  all,  be  left  penniless,  if  you  bequeath  her  your 
money.  Ha !  the  young  man  is  going  to  direct  me  in  mat- 
ters of  law — ME,  is  he  ? " 

In  fact  the  captain  was  so  simple  that  it  had  never  oc- 
curred to  him  that  he  could  take  a  salary  for  his  conduct 
of  the  business ;  or  that  he  could  ask  for  an  allowance  for 
the  maintenance  of  his  ward,  and  this  timely  discovery  by 
the  attorney  in  the  end  saved  Molly  from  poverty  and  left 
her  still,  in  comparison  with  most  girls  of  the  place  or  of 
the  county,  a  very  considerable  heiress. 

When  Mr.  Bisse,  a  few  days  later,  arrived  with  his  in- 
structions, he  found  drawn  up  for  him  a  statement  for  the 
eighteen  years  of  the  captain's  trusteeship.  On  the  work- 
ing side  of  the  account  was  shown  a  charge  of  £150  a  year 
as  provided  by  the  will  of  Molly's  father  for  his  widow  for 
life ;  a  similar  sum  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ward,  and  a 
salary  of  ^300  to  Captain  Crowle  for  managing  the  busi- 


THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION  329 

ness  in  the  name  of  the  firm  as  shippers  and  general  mer- 
chants. Mr.  Stephen  Bisse,  by  this  time,  had  quite  lost  his 
assurance.  He  attempted  no  objections.  "  I  suppose,"  he 
said,  "  you  will  allow  me  an  inspection  of  the  books." 

"  Certainly.  You  will,  however,  find  them  difficult  to 
make  out.  Are  you  acquainted  with  the  routine  work  of  a 
counting-house  ? " 

Mr.  Bisse  owned  that  he  was  not.  "  I  shall  be  asked," 
he  said,  "  if  I  have  examined  the  books." 

"You  shall  examine  what  you  please."  Mr.  Redman 
understood  by  this  time  the  character  of  this  young  attorney. 
"  The  chief  clerk  of  the  counting-house  shall  be  with  you 
to  answer  any  questions  you  please  to  ask." 

He  had  come  to  Lynn,  you  see,  by  order  of  his  princi- 
pals, instructed  that  the  guardian  was  an  old  addle-headed 
sailor,  whose  accounts  would  certainly  prove  liable  to  ques- 
tion and  very  likely  open  to  dispute  and  to  claims ;  he  was 
aware  that  the  noble  client  desired  nothing  so  much  as  to 
ruin  this  old  sailor;  that  he  was  also  in  great  necessities  for 
want  of  money ;  and  that  he  was  anxious,  for  some  reason 
unknown  to  his  attorney  that  the  question  of  the  validity 
of  the  marriage  should  not  be  raised  or  tried  in  open  court. 
But  he  had  been  met  by  a  man  of  law  and  by  accounts  of  a 
most  complicated  kind,  and  by  the  direct  refusal  to  part 
with  any  money  until  a  final  release  had  been  obtained  for 
the  guardian.  He,  therefore,  referred  to  his  principals 
twice.  On  the  second  occasion  he  was  told  that  his  lord- 
ship could  not  wait ;  that  he  was  to  guard  against  fraud  by 
such  an  examination  of  the  books  as  was  possible ;  that  he 
was  to  get  rid  of  the  guardian,  grant  the  release  if  the  ac- 
counts allowed  him  to  do  so,  lay  hands  on  all  the  monies 
available,  and  report  progress. 

This,  in  short,  he  did.  The  amended  schedule  reserved 
property  amounting  in  value  to  .£450  a  year  as  invested 
year  after  year,  and  therefore  at  something  like  compound 
interest,  so  that  this  deduction  gave  the  captain  personal 
and  real  property  representing  some  .£12,000.  The  rest 
was  acknowledged  to  be  the  property  of  the  ward,  and 
therefore,  assuming  the  marriage  to  be  valid,  under  the 
control  of  my  Lord  Fylingdale. 

The  auditor  went  to  the  counting-house  and  called  for 


33o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  books.  He  opened  one  or  two  at  random ;  he  looked 
wise  ;  he  made  a  note  or  two,  for  show;  he  asked  a  ques- 
tion or  two,  for  pretence,  and  he  went  away. 

This  done,  he  repaired  to  Mr.  Redman's  office  again  and 
tendered  a  full  release  to  Captain  Crowle  for  his  trustee- 
ship. The  document,  in  which  Molly  was  called  by  her 
maiden  name,  and  not  by  that  of  the  Countess  of  Fyling- 
dale,  when  it  was  signed  and  sealed,  rendered  the  old  man 
free  of  any  persecution ;  but  it  left  the  estate  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  pretended  husband. 

"You  are  aware,  sir,  of  course,"  said  Mr.  Bisse,  "that 
this  release  accepted  by  Captain  Crowle,  also  accepts  the 
truth  of  my  client's  statements  as  regards  his  marriage." 

"  We  are  not  going  to  dispute  the  fact.  We  have  our 
opinion,  but  the  weight  of  evidence  and  presumption  is 
against  us.  As  his  lordship  only  wants  the  fortune  he  can 
take  it.  May  I  ask  what  you  are  instructed  to  do  about  it  ?  " 

"  My  instructions  are  first  to  receive  all  monies  in  hand, 
save  what  is  wanted  for  current  expenses  in  conducting  the 
business." 

"  You  will  see  what  Captain  Crowle  has  in  his  strong 
room.  You  can  take  that  money  to-day  if  you  please." 

"  And  next,  all  the  jewels,  gold  chains,  bracelets,  etc., 
belonging  to  the  countess." 

"  You  can  have  them  also." 

"  As  regards  the  lands,  houses,  mortgages,  and  the  busi- 
ness, my  lord  will  consider  what  is  best  to  be  done.  I  am 
directed  to  find  some  person  of  integrity  in  the  place  who 
will  receive  the  rents  and  carry  on  the  business.  I  fear  I 
cannot  ask  for  your  assistance." 

"  You  can,  and  may.  It  is  still  our  interest  that  the 
affairs  of  the  firm  shall  be  well  managed.  The  chief  clerk 
in  the  counting-house  is  the  best  man  you  can  appoint. 
He  now  receives  ,£90  a  year.  You  can  give  him  what  the 
captain  had,  .£300." 

"  I  do  not  know  how  long  the  arrangement  will  last." 

•'  You  mean  that  your  client  will  probably  waste  and 
squander  the  whole." 

"  I  desire  to  speak  of  that  nobleman  with  respect.  He 
is,  however,  in  expenditure  even  more  profuse  than  becomes 
his  high  rank." 


THE  FRUITS  OF  SUBMISSION  331 

Molly  shed  no  tears  over  the  loss  of  her  jewels.  She 
brought  the  box  down  with  her  own  hands ;  she  opened  it, 
took  out  the  contents  to  be  verified  by  the  inventory,  shut 
and  locked  it,  and  gave  the  attorney  the  key.  The  captain 
led  him  downstairs  to  the  cellar,  in  a  wall  of  which  a  cup- 
board had  been  constructed,  which,  with  a  stone  in  front, 
removable  with  a  little  trouble,  formed  a  strong  room. 
Here  were  the  boxes  of  guineas  waiting  to  be  invested  or 
employed.  I  know  not  how  many  there  were,  but  Mr. 
Bisse  carried  all  away  with  him. 

When  he  departed  the  next  day  for  London  he  was 
escorted  by  four  stout  fellows  armed  with  cudgels  and 
pistols  riding  beside  his  post-chaise.  However,  he  reached 
London  in  safety  and  delivered  his  prize. 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Mr.  Redman,  "  how  long  it  will  be 
before  instructions  come  for  the  foreclosing  of  the  mort- 
gages and  the  sale  of  the  property." 

"  I  am  doubtful  after  all,"  said  the  vicar,  who  always 
doubted  because  he  always  saw  both  sides  of  the  question, 
"  whether  we  have  done  rightly.  We  could  have  made  a 
good  fight,  and  we  could  have  proved,  at  least,  that  Lord 
Fylingdale  was  in  desperate  straits  for  money." 

u  Jack  was  right,"  said  Molly.  "  Nothing  can  be  done 
until  we  find  the  other  woman." 


CHAPTER  XL 

ON    MY    RETURN 

THESE  things  happened  soon  after  my  departure.  When 
six  months  later  I  returned  home  I  found  that  many  things 
had  followed. 

First  of  all,  the  chief  clerk,  promoted  to  the  management 
of  the  estate  under  orders  from  London,  found  himself  in 
no  enviable  position.  He  was  called  upon  to  send  up 
money  week  after  week — my  lord  wanted  a  hundred — five 
hundred — one  knows  not  what,  and  must  have  it  without 
delay.  If  there  was  no  money,  then  all  outstanding  ac- 
counts must  be  collected,  mortgages  must  be  foreclosed  ; 
but  where  credit  has  been  allowed  it  is  riot  possible  to  col- 
lect accounts  suddenly,  nor  can  mortgages  be  foreclosed 
without  due  notice  given.  Then  the  houses  must  be  sold  ; 
but  in  a  place  like  Lynn,  which  has  more  houses  than  it 
can  fill,  it  is  not  easy  to  sell  a  house,  and  the  price  which 
can  be  obtained  is  small  indeed  compared  with  the  value  of 
houses  in  London.  Then  farms  and  lands  must  be  sold. 
But  who  was  there  to  buy  them  ? 

Then  came  letters  of  rebuke,  answered  by  letters  of  re- 
monstrance. Money  must  be  raised  somehow  ;  money  had 
been  advanced  on  the  security  of  Molly's  property ;  my 
lord  was  in  difficulties. 

It  is  almost  incredible  that  a  man  should  be  able  in  so 
short  a  time  to  waste  and  dissipate  so  large  a  sum  of  money. 
When  we  returned,  and  I  went  ashore,  the  first  person  I 
saw  was  the  unfortunate  chief  clerk,  promoted  to  be 
manager. 

"  Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  he  said,  "  little  did  I  think  when  I 
was  put  into  this  charge  at  a  yearly  salary  of  .£300 — more 
than  ever  I  hoped  or  dreamed  of  getting — what  a  peck  of 
trouble  was  waiting  for  me.  Little  did  I  understand,  sir, 
how  the  great  live ;  with  what  profusion,  with  what  ex- 
travagance !  As  for  that  poor  young  lady — heaven  help 

332 


ON  MY  RETURN  333 

her,  for  her  property  is  vanishing  fast !  Soon  there  will  be 
none.  I  have  no  right  to  talk  of  my  employer's  affairs ; 
but  you  know  what  has  happened." 

"  In  a  word,  Lord  Fylingdale  is  getting  through  Molly's 
property." 

"Worse  than  that;  he  is  throwing  it  away.  Sir,  I  wake 
in  the  night  with  dreams  of  terror.  I  think  I  see  a  man 
plunging  his  hands  into  a  sack  of  gold  and  throwing  it 
about  with  both  hands.  I  have  been  ordered  to  foreclose 
mortgages,  to  sell  houses,  to  sell  farms,  to  sell  everything. 
When  I  cannot  find  a  purchaser  there  come  letters  from 
my  lord's  attorneys,  Bisse  and  Son — the  young  man  was 
here  himself  with  peremptory  orders  to  find  a  purchaser — 
any  purchaser.  Money  must  be  had." 

"  Well,  there  will  be,  I  suppose,  an  end  some  time  or 
other." 

"  The  end  will  come  before  we  look  for  it.  Because, 
Mr.  Pentecrosse,  while  the  profusion  goes  on  the  estate 
grows  less,  and  it  becomes  more  difficult  every  day  to  an- 
swer their  demands." 

"  What  is  left  ?  " 

"  I  hear  that  Miss  Molly's  jewels  were  carried  away  by 
the  young  man.  I  hope  he  was  honest,  and  kept  none  for 
himself.  I  know  that  the  captain  had  a  large  sum  of  money 
in  his  strong  room  waiting  for  a  mortgage ;  that  went  away 
with  the  young  man.  Since  then  I  have  sent  up  all  the 
money  as  it  came  in.  I  have  foreclosed  the  mortgages. 
Some  of  the  mortgagors  could  not  pay,  and  are  now  bank- 
rupt. The  captain  would  never  press  his  people  so  long 
as  they  paid  the  interest.  I  have  been  able  to  sell  some  of 
the  farms;  but  you  know  this  country,  Mr.  Pentecrosse; 
there  is  not  much  money  among  the  gentry  of  these  parts ; 
they  have  been  sold  at  a  sacrifice;  I  have  others  in  the 
market ;  there  are  houses,  also,  but  no  one  will  buy  them. 
Well,  all  will  soon  be  gone.  Then  there  will  remain  but 
one  asset  out  of  all  the  magnificent  property  of  the  work  of 
three  generations.  Miss  Molly's  grandfather,  and  her 
father,  and  herself  by  means  of  the  captain — only  one 
asset." 

"  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  And  soon  that  will  go,  too,"  he  replied  with  a  hollow 


334  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

groan.  "Sir,  it  is  the  noble  fleet  and  the  great  business 
which  belongs  to  the  fleet.  If  the  ships  are  sold " 

Suddenly  I  remembered  my  lord's  question  on  board  The 
Lady  of  Lynn.  "  Can,"  he  asked,  "  a  ship  be  sold  like  an 
estate  of  land  ?  " 

"  They  will  be  sold,"  I  said,  confidently.  "  You  may 
look  to  have  them  sold  as  soon  as  the  other  assets  are  ex- 
pended. The  last  thing  to  be  sold  will  be  the  fleet  of  ships, 
and  the  business  which  belongs  to  the  ships." 

"  And  what  will  become  of  me  ?  " 

"  Why,"  I  said,  "  somebody  must  manage  the  business. 
Why  not  you,  since  you  have  been  all  your  life  in  it,  and 
know  what  it  means  and  how  it  is  conducted  ?  But  who 
will  buy  it  ?  " 

"  Not  all  the  merchants  of  Lynn  together  could  find  the 
money  to  buy  these  ships  and  to  carry  on  this  business. 
No,  sir,  the  whole  must  go  to  strangers." 

I  left  him,  having  given  him  the  ship's  papers,  and  went 
on  to  see  the  captain  and  Molly. 

"Jack,"  she  said,  ruefully,  "you  promised  when  you 
went  away  that  there  would  be  a  change.  None  has  come, 
except  a  change  for  the  worse.  But  that  we  expected." 

"  In  other  words,  Jack,"  the  captain  explained,  "  every- 
thing that  happens  must  happen  before  very  long,  or  there 
will  be  nothing  left.  My  lord  is  spending  at  such  a  rate  as 
no  fortune  could  stand.  What  does  he  mean  ?  When  it 
is  gone  will  he  find  another  Molly  and  marry  her  for  her 
money  ?  There  is  not  in  all  the  land  another  Molly — not 
even  for  her  good  looks,  let  alone  her  fortune." 

As  for  good  looks,  her  misfortunes  had  only  improved 
poor  Molly's  face  which  was  now  of  a  more  pensive  cast 
and  had  lost  some  of  its  youthful  joyousness.  To  be  sure 
she  had  little  to  make  her  joyous. 

I  observed,  and  I  understood,  that  she  was  dressed  with 
the  utmost  simplicity,  like  a  farmer's  daughter.  For,  out- 
side, the  people  spoke  of  her  as  the  countess,  even  while 
they  accepted  her  story  and  did  not  allow  her  to  be  married. 
She  would,  at  least,  present  no  external  sign  of  the  rank 
which  she  denied. 

"  Ho -v  does  the  man  spend  all  this  money  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Thank  heaven,  Jack,  a  plain  person,  like  you  and  me, 


ON  MY  RETURN  335 

cannot  answer  that  question.  How  does  he  spend  that 
money  ?  Who  knows  ?  He  has  had,  since  he  began,  six 
months  ago,  a  great  many  thousands.  If  he  has  sold  the 
jewels  he  has  had  I  know  not  how  many  more,  and  still 
the  same  cry — l  send  more  money — send  more  money,  my 
lord  wants  more  money  without  delay.'  As  for  that  poor 
man,  lately  my  clerk,  he  is  driven  like  a  slave  and  bullied 
like  a  raw  recruit.  He  wrings  his  hands.  4  What  shall  I 
do,  captain  ?  '  he  asks.  l  What  shall  I  do  ?  Whither 
shall  I  turn  ?  '  " 

Then  there  came  into  my  head  the  thought  that  I  might 
somehow,  by  going  to  London  find  out  what  manner  of 
life  was  led  by  my  lord  and  in  what  ways  he  wasted  and 
scattered  Molly's  substance.  I  could  do  nothing  to  stop  or 
to  hinder  the  waste ;  yet  when  one  knows  the  truth  it  is  gen- 
erally more  tolerable  than  the  uncertainty — the  truth  is  an 
open  enemy  which  one  can  see  and  avoid,  or  submit  to,  or 
fight ;  the  unknown  is  an  unknown  and  an  unseen  enemy 
who  may  attack  from  any  quarter  and  by  any  weapon. 

I  thought  over  the  plan  for  some  days  ;  it  assumed  clearer 
shape ;  it  became  a  purpose.  Molly,  for  her  part,  neither 
approved  nor  disapproved.  She  was  for  letting  the  man, 
who  pretended  to  be  her  husband,  work  his  wicked  will  and 
do  what  he  pleased,  provided  that  he  left  her  in  peace. 

How  was  a  simple  sailor  to  find  out  the  daily  life  of  a 
great  lord  ?  The  backstairs  one  would  not  choose  ;  but 
what  other  way  was  there  ?  I  laid  the  matter  before  my 
father  and  the  vicar.  "  I  know  not,"  said  the  latter,  "  that 
we  can  do  much  good  by  learning  the  truth,  even  if  we 
ascertain  all  the  particulars  of  the  man's  life  from  his  very 
companions,  but  you  might  satisfy  us  on  certain  points. 
For  instance,  about  that  mysterious  woman.  I  know  not 
how  you  can  find  out  anything,  but  you  might  possibly 
chance  upon  a  clue." 

"  Go,"  said  my  father,  "  to  my  cousin,  the  bookseller. 
He  found  out  something  about  Lord  Fylingdale's  character. 
He  might  find  out  more.  You  can  at  least  explain  what 
you  want  and  why." 

The  end  of  it  was  that  I  went  to  London,  riding  with  a 
small  company,  and  meeting  with  no  adventures  on  the 
way;  that  I  put  up  at  one  of  the  inns  outside  Bishopsgate, 


336  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

and  that  I  found  out  my  cousin  and  put  the  whole  case 
before  him.  He  was  a  grave  and  responsible  citizen,  a 
churchwarden,  and  of  good  standing  in  the  Stationers'  com- 
pany. 

"You  want  to  know  how  Lord  FylingdaJe  spends  his 
money.  I  suppose  there  are  but  two  or  three  ways ;  of 
profligates,  I  take  it,  there  are  only  a  few  varieties ;  one 
games;  another  rakes  ;  a  third  surrounds  himself  with  com- 
panions who  flatter  him  and  strip  him.  The  first  two  are 
possessed  of  devils ;  the  third  is  a  fool.  I  do  not  imagine 
that  my  Lord  Fylingdale  is  a  fool,  but  you  will  probably 
find  that  he  is  possessed  of  both  the  other  devils,  and  per- 
haps more." 

"  But  how  am  I  to  find  out  ?  " 

"  Why,  cousin,  I  think  I  know  a  young  fellow  who  can 
help  you  in  this  business." 

"  Who  is  he  ?     How  shall  I  approach  him  ?  " 

"  He  is  a  gentleman  who  lives  by  his  wits ;  not  one  of 
the  ragged  poets  who  haunt  our  shops  with  offers  and 
projects  and  entreat  work  at  a  guinea  a  sheet.  No ;  he  is 
a  gentleman,  and  a  wit ;  his  father  was  a  general  in  the 
army ;  his  cousin  is  a  noble  lord ;  he  is  received  into  the 
houses  of  the  great  when  he  chooses  to  go.  He  works  for 
the  theatre,  and  has  composed  several  pieces  said  to  be  in- 
genious. As  for  his  acquaintance  with  me,  I  would  have 
you  to  understand  that  with  two  or  three  other  booksellers 
we  bring  out  a  weekly  essay  like  those  of  the  Spectator  and 
Tatler,  which,  of  course,  you  know." 

"  I  never  heard  of  them." 

The  bookseller  smiled  with  compassion.  "To  be  sure; 
at  sea  there  are  no  books.  Well,  cousin,  this  young  gen- 
tleman sometimes,  when  he  is  in  the  humour,  will  write  me 
an  essay  in  the  true  vein  of  an  Addison.  I  will  speak  with 
him.  If  any  one  can,  he  can  do  your  business  for  you." 

It  was  by  the  kind  offices  of  this  gentleman,  whom  I 
found  to  be  a  person  of  quick  wit  and  ready  understanding, 
besides  being  of  a  most  obliging  disposition,  that  I  was  en- 
abled to  see,  with  my  own  eyes,  an  evening  such  as  my 
lord  loved.  As  for  the  details,  you  must,  if  you  please,  hold 
me  excused.  Let  it  suffice  that  our  observations  began  at 
a  gaming  house  and  ended  at  a  tavern.  At  both  places  I 


ON  MY  RETURN  337 

kept  in  the  background,  because  I  would  not  be  recognised 
by  Lord  Fylingdale. 

He  came  into  the  gaming  table  with  the  same  lofty,  cold 
carriage  which  he  had  shown  at  our  humble  assembly.  He 
advanced  to  the  table;  he  began  to  play;  no  one  could  tell 
from  his  lordship's  face  whether  he  lost  or  won ;  in  half  an 
hour  or  so  my  friend  returned  to  my  corner.  "  He  has  lost 
a  cool  five  hundred.  They  are  whispering  round  the  table 
that  he  loses  hundreds  every  evening.  All  the  world  are 
asking  what  gold  mine  he  possesses  that  he  can  stand  these 
losses  ? " 

"  I  know  his  gold  mine,"  I  replied,  with  a  sigh.  "  But 
it  is  nearly  exhausted." 

We  stayed,  a  little  longer.  It  was  about  ten  or  eleven  in 
the  evening  that  his  lordship  left  the  table. 

"  Come,"  said  my  friend.  "  I  know  the  tavern  where 
he  will  spend  the  next  three  or  four  hours.  I  can  take  you 
there.  The  bowls  of  punch  and  the  company  and  every- 
thing are  provided  at  his  lordship's  expense.  Mr.  Pente- 
crosse,  it  must  be  not  a  gold  mine,  but  a  mine  of  Golconda, 
to  bear  this  profusion." 

"  I  tell  you,  sir,  whatever  it  is,  the  mine  is  nearly  run 
out." 

"  It  will  not  be  bad  for  the  morals  of  the  town  when  it 
has  quite  run  out." 

As  regards  the  tavern  and  its  company  it  is,  indeed, 
astonishing  to  me  that  any  man  should  find  pleasure  in  such 
a  company  and  in  such  discourse.  At  the  head  of  the  table 
sat  my  lord.  He  appeared  to  be  neither  pleased  nor  dis- 
pleased ;  the  drink  flowed  like  a  stream  of  running  water; 
it  seized  on  all  and  made  their  faces  red,  their  voices  thick ; 
the  noble  leader  sat  unmoved,  or,  if  moved  at  all,  then  by 
a  kind  of  contempt.  At  two  o'clock  he  rose  and  walked 
out  into  the  street,  where  his  chair  awaited  him. 

"This  is  his  humour,"  said  my  guide.  "Play  is  his 
passion;  it  is  the  one  thing  that  he  lives  for;  he  has  wasted 
and  ruined  his  own  estate,  which  will  be  transmitted  to  his 
successor  as  bare  as  the  back  of  my  hand ;  and  now  he  is 
wasting  the  wealth  of  Potosi  and  the  diamonds  of  Gol- 
conda. He  would  waste  the  whole  world  if  he  could." 

"  Why  does  he  entertain  such  a  crew  ?  " 


338  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  It  is  his  humour.  He  seems  to  delight  in  observing 
the  wickedness  of  the  world.  He  sits  and  looks  on  ;  he 
encourages  and  stimulates,  and  his  face  grows  colder  and 
his  eyes  harder.  This  man  is  not  possessed  of  a  devil.  He 
is  himself  the  Great  Devil — the  Prince  of  Iniquity." 

So  I  had  learned  all  that  I  wanted  to  know.  It  was  now 
quite  certain  that  we  were  within  a  short  distance  from  the 
end.  The  lands  and  houses  in  the  market  would  find  a 
purchaser;  the  fleet  and  the  business  would  then  be  sold. 
What  next  ? 

The  day  after  this  experience  in  the  life  of  a  rake  I  paid 
a  visit  for  the  first  and  only  time  to  St.  James  Park  in  the 
afternoon.  It  was,  I  remember,  a  cold  but  clear  and  bright 
day  in  January.  At  the  gates  stood  a  crowd  of  lacqueys 
and  fellows  waiting  for  their  ladies,  and  stamping  on  the 
ground  to  keep  off  the  cold.  Within,  a  goodly  company 
walked  briskly  up  and  down.  They  were  the  great  people 
of  London  whom  I  saw  here.  While  I  looked  on  admir- 
ing the  dresses  of  the  ladies  and  the  extravagances  of  the 
gentlemen,  who  seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  in  calling 
attention  to  themselves  by  their  dress  and  by  their  gestures, 
there  passed  me,  walking  alone,  a  lady  whom  at  first  I  did 
not  recognise.  She  started,  however,  and  smartly  tapped 
my  hand  with  her  fan — she  carried  the  fan  although  it  was 
winter,  just  as  the  beaux  dangled  their  canes  from  their 
wrists. 

"  Why,"  she  cried,  "  it  is  my  sailor !  It  is  surely  Jack 
Pentecrosse ! " 

Then  I  recognised  the  Lady  Anastasia. 

"And  what  is  Jack  Pentecrosse  doing  in  this  wicked 
town  ?  And  how  is  Molly — the  countess  ?  Come,  Jack, 
to  my  house.  It  is  not  far  from  here.  I  should  like  a  talk 
with  you,  and  to  hear  the  news.  And  I  will  give  you  a 
dish  of  tea.  Why,  I  left  Lynn  in  disgrace — did  I  not  ? 
On  account  of  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex.  It  was  that 
evening  when  Lord  Fylingdale  turned  upon  his  enemies." 

Her  house  was  not  very  far  from  St.  James's  Street.  As 
we  walked  along,  she  discoursed  pleasantly  in  her  soft  and 
charming  manner,  as  if  she  was  made  happy  just  by  meet- 
ing me,  and  as  if  she  had  always  been  thinking  about  me. 

She  placed  me  in  a  chair  before  the  fire ;  she  sat  opposite ; 


ON  MY  RETURN  339 

she  pulled  her  bell  rope  and  called  for  tea;  then  she  began 
to  talk  about  Lynn  and  its  people. 

"  Tell  me,  Jack,  about  your  friend  Molly.  Is  she  recon- 
ciled to  her  rank  and  title  yet  ?  I  believe  that  she  does  not 
live  with  her  husband." 

"  She  denies  that  she  was  married." 

"  Ah  !  I  have  heard,  in  fact,  that  there  is  some  sort  of  a 
story — a  cock  and  a  bull  story — about  the  wedding." 

"  Another  woman  was  substituted.     Molly  was  at  home." 

"Another  woman?  Strange!  Why  was  she  substi- 
tuted ?  Who  was  she  ?  " 

"  I  know  not.  The  matter  is  a  mystery.  Certain  it  is, 
however,  that  Lord  Fylingdale  was  married.  I  myself  saw 
the  wedding.  I  was  in  the  church." 

"You  were  in  the  church  ?  "  She  raised  her  fan  for  a 
moment.  "You  were  in  the  church?  And  you  saw  the 
wedding.  Who  was  the  bride  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know.     At  the  time  I  thought  it  was  Molly." 

"Jack,"  she  leaned  over,  looking  me  full  in  the  face. 
"  Have  you  no  suspicion  ?  " 

"  None.  I  cannot  understand  how,  all  in  a  moment, 
and  when  he  found  that  Molly  was  not  there,  the  bride- 
groom found  means  to  substitute  another  woman  dressed  as 
Molly  should  have  been.  I  cannot  understand  it." 

"  It  is,  as  you  say,  strange.  Do  you  think  you  will  ever 
find  out  ?  " 

"  Why  not  ?  There  are  three  persons  in  the  plot — Lord 
Fylingdale,  Mr.  Purdon,  and  the  woman.  One  of  the  two 
last  will  perhaps  reveal  the  truth." 

She  was  silent  for  a  moment. 

"  Well,  and  what  are  you  doing  in  town  ? " 

"  I  came  to  learn,  if  I  could,  something  of  Lord  Fyling- 
dale's  private  life." 

"  Have  you  succeeded  ?  " 

"  He  is  a  gambler  and  a  rake.  He  is  rapidly  wasting  the 
whole  of  poor  Molly's  fortune.  In  a  few  months,  or 
weeks,  it  will  all  be  gone." 

"  Yes,"  she  replied  ;  "  all  will  be  gone." 

"First  he  took  the  money  and  the  jewels " 

"  What  ?  "  she  sat  up  suddenly.     "  He  took  the  jewels  ?  " 

"  He  took  them  first.     Then  he  sold  the  lands." 


340  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Oh,  tell  me  no  more  !  He  is  wasting  and  destroying. 
It  is  his  nature.  First  he  took  the  jewels.  How  long 
ago  ?  " 

"  Six  months  ago." 

"  He  has  had  the  jewels,"  she  said.  "  He  has  had  them 
for  six  months."  Her  face  became  hard  and  drawn  as 
with  pain ;  her  smiling  mouth  became  hard ;  the  light  died 
out  of  her  eyes;  she  became  suddenly  twenty  years  older. 
I  wondered  what  this  change  might  mean.  You  will  think 
that  I  was  a  very  simple  person  not  to  guess  more  from  all 
these  indications.  She  pushed  back  her  chair  and  sprang 
to  her  feet ;  she  walked  over  to  the  window  and  looked  out 
upon  the  cold  street,  in  which  there  were  flying  flakes  of 
snow.  Then  she  came  back  and  stood  before  the  fire. 
"You  can  go,"  she  said,  harshly,  not  looking  me  in  the 
face.  "  You  can  go,"  she  repeated,  forgetting  her  proffered 
hospitality  of  tea.  "  About  that  woman,  Jack,  you  may 
find  her  yet.  Many  a  wicked  woman  has  been  goaded  by 
wrongs  intolerable  to  confess  her  wickedness.  I  think  you 
may  find  her.  It  will  be  too  late  to  save  Molly's  fortune ; 
but  when  it  is  all  spent  there  will  be  a  chance  for  you, 
Jack."  She  turned  upon  me  a  wan  and  sad  smile. 
"  Happy  Molly !  "  she  added,  laying  her  hand  upon  my 
arm  with  the  sweet  graciousness  that  she  could  command. 
"Jack,"  she  added,  "I  think  we  may  pity  that  poor 
wretch  who  personated  Molly.  It  was  perhaps  out  of  love 
for  a  worthless  man.  Women  are  so.  It  is  not  worth,  or 
virtue,  or  ability,  or  character  that  awakens  love  and  keeps 
it  alive.  A  woman,  Jack,  loves  a  man.  There  is  nothing 
more  to  be  said.  If  he  is  a  good  man  so  much  the  better. 
If  not — still  she  loves  him."  She  sighed  heavily.  "  What 
do  you  sailors  know  about  women  ?  Virtue,  fame,  and 
fortune  do  not  make  love,  nor — Jack,  which  is  a  hard  thing 
for  you  to  believe — does  all  the  wickedness  in  the  world 
destroy  love.  A  woman  may  be  goaded  into  revenge, 
but  it  makes  her  all  the  more  unhappy — because  love 
remains." 

I  went  away,  musing  on  this  woman  who  sometimes 
seemed  so  true  and  earnest  with  all  her  fashion  and  affecta- 
tions. For,  as  she  spoke  about  love,  the  tears  stood  in  her 
eyes  as  if  she  was  speaking  of  her  own  case.  But  I  never 


ON  MY  RETURN  341 

suspected  her ;  I  never  had  the  least  suspicion  of  her  as  the 
mysterious  woman. 

I  took  cars  into  the  city  and  went  to  my  cousin's  shop, 
where  there  were  half-a-dozen  gentlemen  talking  volubly 
about  new  books,  among  them  my  friend  who  had  taken 
me  to  the  gaming  house  and  to  the  tavern.  When  he  saw 
me  he  slipped  aside.  "  Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  he  said,  "your 
cousin  reminds  me  that  I  once  told  him  what  I  could  learn 
concerning  an  unfortunate  poet  named  Semple.  If  you 
would  like  to  see  him  I  think  I  can  take  you  to  him." 

I  thanked  him,  and  said  that  I  would  willingly  have 
speech  of  Mr.  Semple. 

So  he  led  me  down  little  Britain,  and  so  by  a  maze  of 
streets  to  a  place  called  Turnagain  Lane.  He  stopped  at  an 
open  door.  The  street  in  the  waning  light  looked  squalid, 
and  the  house  mean. 

"  The  darling  of  Parnassus,"  he  said,  "  lies  in  the  top 
chamber.  You  will  find  him  there,  unless  I  mistake  not, 
because  he  cannot  conveniently  go  abroad." 

So  saying,  he  left  me,  and  I  climbed  up  the  dark  and 
dirty  staircase,  some  of  the  steps  of  which  had  been  taken 
away  for  firewood,  and  presently  found  myself  at  the  top  of 
the  last  flight  before  a  closed  door.  I  knocked.  A  faint 
voice  bade  me  come  in. 

There  was  no  fire  in  the  fireplace  ;  there  was  no  candle ; 
by  the  faint  light  which  struggled  through  the  window  I  per- 
ceived that  I  was  in  a  garret;  that  all  the  furniture  visible 
was  a  bed,  and  a  man  in  the  bed,  a  table  and  a  chair.  On 
the  mantelshelf  stood  a  candlestick  without  a  candle  and  a 
tinder  box. 

"  Who  is  it  ? "  asked  the  man  in  bed. 

"  I  am  in  search  of  Sam  Semple.    Are  you  Sam  Semple  ?  " 

"  I  know  that  voice."  The  man  sat  up.  "  Is  it  the 
voice  of  Jack  Pentecrosse  ?  " 

"  The  same.     What  cheer,  man  ?  " 

For  all  answer,  he  burst  out  crying  like  a  child. 

"  Oh  !  Jack,"  he  said,  "  I  am  starving.  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  starve.  I  have  no  longer  any  clothes.  I  have  not 
even  a  candle.  I  have  no  money.  I  have  not  even  a  sheet 
of  paper  to  write  a  letter,  and  I  deserve  it  all — yes,  I  de- 
serve it  all." 


342  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  Why,  this  is  bad.  But  let  me  first  get  you  some  food. 
Then  we  will  talk." 

I  went  downstairs  and  found  a  woman,  who  told  me  of  a 
shop  where  I  could  get  some  necessaries,  and  I  presently 
returned  bearing  food  and  a  bottle  of  wine,  some  coals  and 
candles,  and  a  warm  coat,  which  I  thought  would  be 
useful. 

By  the  light  of  the  candle  and  the  fire  I  could  perceive 
that  the  condition  of  the  unhappy  poet  was  miserable  in- 
deed. Never  was  there  a  more  wretched  den  of  a  garret. 
The  plaster  had  fallen  from  the  walls ;  the  window  was 
mostly  stuffed  with  rags  in  place  of  glass  ;  in  a  word,  every- 
thing betokened  the  greatest  extremity  of  poverty.  As  for 
the  man  himself,  he  had  neither  coat,  waistcoat,  nor  shoes. 
He  sat  on  the  bed  half-dressed,  but  the  rest  of  his  wardrobe 
had  been  pawned  or  sold.  There  were  no  books ;  there 
were  no  papers ;  there  was  nothing  to  show  his  calling ;  and 
there  was  no  sign  of  food. 

At  the  sight  of  my  basket  and  its  contents  the  man  fell 
to.  With  just  such  a  rage  have  I  seen  a  sailor  picked  up 
at  sea  from  an  open  boat,  fall  upon  food  and  devour  it. 
Nor  did  Sam  finish  till  he  had  devoured  the  whole  of  the 
cold  beef  and  bread — a  goodly  ration — and  swallowed  the 
whole  of  the  bottle  of  wine,  a  generous  allowance.  Then 
he  breathed  a  sigh  of  satisfaction,  and  put  on  the  thick  coat 
which  I  had  bought  for  him. 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  can  we  now  talk  ?  " 

"Jack,  you  have  saved  my  life;  but  I  shall  be  hungry 
again  to-morrow.  Lend  me  a  little  money." 

"  I  will  lend  you  a  guinea  or  two.  But  tell  me  first  how 
came  you  here  ?  I  thought  you  were  in  the  confidence  of 
a  certain  noble  lord." 

"  He  is  a  villain,  Jack.  He  is  the  greatest  villain  un- 
hung. Oh  !  hanging  is  too  good  for  him.  After  all  I  did 
for  him  !  The  lying  villain  !  " 

"What  you  did  for  him,  Sam,  was  to  give  him  the 
chance  of  ruining  the  property  of  an  innocent  and  helpless 
girl." 

"I  gave  him  the  heiress.  Was  it  nothing  to  promote 
the  daughter  of  a  plain  merchant  and  make  her  a  countess  ? " 

"  Tell  me  more.     What  were  you  to  get  for  it  ?  " 


ON  MY  RETURN  343 

"  It  was  I  who  invented  an  excuse  for  taking  my  lord 
and  his  friends  to  Lynn." 

"Yes,  I  understand.  You  invented  the  spa.  The 
water  in  the  well " 

"  The  water  is  very  good  water.  It  could  do  no  harm. 
I  wrote  to  the  doctor — I  invented  the  analysis,  applying  it 
from  another.  I  told  him  about  the  discovery  and  the 
things  said  by  the  newspapers.  There  was  no  discovery ; 
nobody  had  heard  of  the  water ;  no  physician  sent  any  of 
his  patients  there ;  the  only  visitors  from  London  were  my 
lord  and  his  friends." 

"  They  were  all  his  friends,  then  ?  " 

"All.  His  reverence  is  in  the  pay  of  Beelzebub,  I  be- 
lieve. The  colonel  is  a  bully  and  a  gamester — Sir  Harry 
is  a  well-known  decoy — Lady  Anastasia  shares  her  bank 
with  Lord  Fylingdale.  They  were  a  nest  of  sharpers  and 
villains,  and  their  business  and  mine  was  to  spread  abroad 
reports  of  the  shining  virtue  of  his  lordship." 

"  All  this,  or  part  of  it,  we  found  out  or  guessed.  The 
vicar  publicly  denounced  you  all  at  his  assembly.  But  what 
were  you  to  get  by  it  for  yourself?  " 

"  I  was  to  have  an  appointment  under  government  of 
.£200  a  year  at  least." 

"  Well  ?  " 

"  I  was  to  have  it  directly  after  the  marriage.  That  was 
the  promise.  I  have  it  in  writing." 

"  And  you  have  not  got  it  ?  " 

"  No ;  and  I  shall  not  get  it.  When  I  claimed  it  his 
lordship  asked  me  to  read  the  promise.  I  showed  it  him. 
I  had  kept  it  carefully  in  my  pocketbook.  l  On  the  mar- 
riage of  Lord  Fylingdale  with  Miss  Molly.'  What  do  you 
think  he  said.  Oh,  villain  !  villain  !  " 

"  What  did  he  say  ?  " 

"  He  said,  '  Hold  there,  my  friend  !  On  the  marriage. 
Very  well,  although  I  say  that  I  am  married  to  that  lady, 
very  oddly  the  lady  swears  that  she  is  not  married  to  me. 
Now,  when  that  lady  acknowledges  the  marriage  I  will  ful- 
fill my  promise.  That  is  fair,  is  it  not  ? '  Then  I  lost  my 
head  and  forgot  his  rank  and  my  position,  and  the  next  mo- 
ment I  was  kicked  into  the  street  by  his  lackeys  without 
salary,  without  anything.  Oh,  villain  !  villain  !  " 


344  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

It  seemed  as  if  there  was  here  some  opening — of  what 
nature  I  knew  not.  However  I  spoke  seriously  to  Sam.  I 
pointed  out  that  in  introducing  a  broken  gamester — a  prof- 
ligate— a  man  of  no  honour  or  principle,  the  companion  of 
profligates  and  gamesters,  to  the  simple  folk  of  Lynn  who 
were  ready  to  believe  anything,  he  had  himself  been  guilty 
of  an  act  more  villainous  even  than  the  breaking  of  this 
contract.  I  gave  him,  however,  a  guinea  for  present  neces- 
sities and  I  promised  him  five  guineas  more  if  he  would 
write  a  history  of  the  whole  business  so  far  as  he  was  con- 
cerned. And  I  undertook  to  leave  this  money  with  my 
cousin  the  bookseller — to  be  paid  over  to  him  on  receiving 
the  manuscript. 

This  business  arranged,  I  had  nothing  more  to  do  with 
London.  I  had  been,  however,  as  you  shall  presently  learn, 
more  successful  than  I  myself  understood,  for  I  had  learned 
by  actual  presence  the  daily  life  and  conversation  of  this 
noble  lord  and  I  had  laid  the  foundation  for  a  proof  of  the 
conspiracy  to  disguise  his  true  character,  and,  what  was 
much  more  important,  I  had  unwittingly  fired  the  mind  of 
the  mysterious  woman  herself  with  resentment  and  jealousy. 


CHAPTER  XLI 

THE    FIRST    AND    THE    SECOND   CONFEDERATE 

WE  were  now,  indeed,  although  we  knew  it  not,  very 
near  the  end  of  these  troubles. 

I  returned  with  the  satisfaction  of  bringing  with  me  the 
confession  of  the  conspiracy  which  we  had  long  known. 
Still,  it  is  one  thing  to  know  of  a  conspiracy,  and  quite  an- 
other thing  to  have  a  plain  confession  by  one  of  the  chief 
conspirators.  You  may  imagine  that  the  poet  was  not  long 
in  writing  out  a  full  and  complete  confession,  and  in  claim- 
ing the  five  guineas  of  my  cousin,  who  took  the  liberty  of 
reading  the  document,  and  of  witnessing  his  signature  be- 
fore he  gave  up  the  money. 

"  Take  it,  sir,"  he  said,  "  if  to  be  a  villain  is  to  earn  a 
reward  of  five  guineas,  you  have  earned  that  reward.  Take 
it,  Judas  Iscariot.  Take  it,  and  make  a  poem  on  the  Wages 
of  Sin  if  you  can." 

"  You  trample  on  the  weak.  I  am  a  worm  who  cannot 
turn.  Still,  sir,  if  you  can  find  honest  employment  for  a 
pen  which  adorns  all  it  touches " 

"  Go,  sir.  For  such  as  you  I  have  no  employment. 
My  poets  and  authors  may  be  poor,  but  they  are  honest. 
Get  thee  out  of  my  sight." 

I  showed  the  document  first  to  my  father  and  the  vicar. 

"  So  far,  well,"  said  the  latter.  "If  proof  were  needed 
of  a  more  wicked  conspiracy  here  it  is.  But  in  the  main 
thing  we  are  no  more  forward  than  before,  Jack.  We  are 
not  helped  by  this  writing  to  the  mystery  of  the  strange 
woman  and  her  intervention.  A  strange  woman,  indeed ; 
she  must  be — one  such  as  described  by  the  wise  king." 

"  We  shall  find  her  yet.  What  hold  can  this  spendthrift 
gamester  have  upon  the  woman — his  partner  in  the  crime  ? 
Some  time  or  other  she  will  be  tempted  to  reveal  the  truth." 

"We  know  not.  Women  are  not  as  men.  They  love 

345 


346  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

the  most  worthless  as  well  as  the  most  noble."  Lady  An- 
astasia  had  said  the  same  thing. 

"  Love  is  like  the  sunshine,  my  son.  It  falls  upon  good 
and  evil  alike,  and,  like  the  sunshine,  it  may  be  wasted,  or 
it  may  be  turned  to  help.  We  must  not  expect  to  find  this 
woman  ;  we  must  not  count  upon  her  revenge  or  her  re- 
pentance." 

"We  shall  find  her,  sir,  I  am  certain  that  we  shall  find 
her.  The  spendthrift  wastes  and  scatters  with  a  kind  of 
madness.  He  will  soon  finish  all,  and  will  have  nothing 
left  for  his  confederates.  You  see  what  one  confederate 
has  confessed,  having  been  betrayed  by  his  master." 

Said  the  vicar :  "  The  sweet  singer  of  Israel  ceases  not 
to  proclaim  the  lesson  that  all  the  generations  must  learn 
and  lay  to  heart — c  I  have  seen,'  he  says,  '  the  wicked  in 
great  power,  and  spreading  himself  like  a  green  bay-tree. 
Yet  he  passed  away,  and,  lo  !  he  was  not.  Yea,  I  sought 
him,  and  he  could  not  be  found.'  Patience,  therefore,  let 
us  have  patience." 

He  fell  into  a  meditation  in  which  I  disturbed  him  not. 
After  a  while  he  returned  to  the  business  of  Sam's  written 
confession,  which  he  held  in  his  hands. 

"  It  is  remarkable,"  he  said,  "  how  this  young  man,  who 
from  his  boyhood  was  a  self-deceiver,  imagining  himself  to 
be  somebody,  endeavours  to  place  his  conduct  in  a  light 
flattering  to  his  self-deception.  It  is  evident,  abundantly, 
that  he  has  been  guided  throughout  by  two  motives,  the  one 
as  base  as  the  other.  The  first  is  revenge  for  the  whole- 
some cudgelling  which  the  captain  bestowed  upon  him.  It 
was  administered,  I  doubt  not,  with  judicial  liberality — even 
erring  on  the  side  of  liberality — and  he  left  in  the  man's 
mind  that  longing  for  revenge  which  belongs  to  the  weaker 
and  the  baser  sort.  See,  he  writes,  l  Since  Captain  Crowle 
was  resolved  to  marry  his  ward  above  her  station,  I  was 
quite  sure  that  he  would  be  grateful  to  me  for  the  signal 
service  which  he  could  in  no  way  effect  by  his  own  efforts 
of  raising  her  from  her  humble  condition  to  the  rank  of 
countess.'  He  thus  betrays  himself.  And  as  to  the  second 
motive,  he  says,  l  A  poor  man  has  the  right  to  better  him- 
self if  he  can.  It  is  his  duty.  I  saw  a  way,  an  unexpected 
and  an  honourable  way.'  Listen  to  the  creature.  1 1  made 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  CONFEDERATE    347 

the  discovery  that  my  patron,  by  gambling  and  raking,  had 
become,  as  regards  his  affairs,  nothing  less  than  what  in  a 
merchant  would  be  called  a  bankrupt.  That  is  to  say,  he 
had  spent  all  he  had,  sold  all  he  could,  raised  all  the  money 
possible  on  his  entailed  estates,  and  but  for  his  privilege  as  a 
peer  would  now  be  in  a  debtor's  prison.  Yet  he  contrived 
to  keep  his  head  above  water — I  found  out  how,  as  well — 
and  still  maintained  a  brave  show,  though,  by  reason  of  his 
bad  character,  he  was  not  countenanced  except  by  profli- 
gates like  himself.  I  therefore  laid  open. to  him  a  way  of 
restoring  his  affairs.  I  offered  to  introduce  him  to  a  great 
heiress.  At  first  he  did  not  believe  that  there  was  in  any 
country  town  an  heiress  with  the  fortune  that  I  described  to 
him.  But  I  gave  him  some  proofs  and  I  promised  him 
more.  Whereupon  1  made  known  my  condition.  As 
soon  as  he  was  married  to  this  heiress  he  was  to  procure 
for  me,  by  purchase  or  by  influence,  a  post  under  govern- 
ment worth  at  least  £,200  a  year,  with  perquisites,  or  per- 
haps a  benefice,  if  I  could  procure  ordination,  of  which  I 
had  no  doubt  in  thinking  of  my  learning  and  my  character 
for  piety.'  " 

"  Ho  !  "  said  my  father,  "  his  learning  and  his  piety  !  " 
"'  My  patron  is  now  master  of  that  fortune  and  is  wast- 
ing it  as  fast  as  he  can  in  the  old  courses.  He  refuses  to 
keep  his  promise.  Nay,  he  hath  sold  the  last  preferment 
in  his  gift  to  the  highest  bidder.  It  was  a  rectory  of  £350 
a  year.' " 

"  This  fellow,"  said  the  vicar,  "  knows  that  his  patron 
is  at  his  last  guinea.  He  knows  him  to  be  a  loose  liver 
and  a  gamester,  and  he  has  no  hesitation  in  conspiring  to 
place  this  innocent  girl,  by  means  of  her  simple  guardian,  in 
the  hands  of  such  a  man.  Yet  he  whines  and  thinks  him- 
self ill-used,  and  a  football  of  fate.  Formerly,  he  thought 
himself  the  favourite  of  the  Muses.  The  man  is  a  cur, 
Jack ;  he  has  the  cunning  and  the  cowardice  and  the 
treachery  of  a  mongrel  cur.  Take  back  his  confession. 
It  may,  however,  be  useful." 

"  What  about  the  great  discovery  concerning  the  spa  ?  " 

"  Why,  Jack,  it  seems  as  if  he  drew  his  bow  and  shot  an 

arrow  at  a  venture,  yet  hit  the  bull's  eye.     The  doctor  has 

a  book,  in  which  he  inscribes  cases  of  cures  effected  by  the 


348  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

waters  of  the  spa.  The  book  is  well-nigh  filled.  It  is  true 
that  this  Prince  of  Liars  invented  and  pretended  the  dis- 
covery of  a  spa;  it  is  also  true,  as  we  cannot  but  believe, 
that  the  waters  have  actually  done  all  that  he  pretended. 
He,  therefore,  unconsciously,  seems  to  have  proclaimed  the 
truth.  Let  the  thing  remain  as  it  is,  then.  Time  will 
show.  The  next  season's  cases  and  cures  will  perhaps  es- 
tablish the  reputation  of  the  spa  on  a  more  solid  basis  even 
than  at  present." 

Time,  as  I  have  already  told  you,  did  show,  for  no  one 
came  at  all.  The  spa  was  neglected  in  its  second  season ; 
in  the  third  it  was  forgotten  ;  even  the  pump  room  was  re- 
moved, and  only  the  well  remained.  But  the  doctor,  who 
was  bitterly  disappointed  with  the  failure,  was  never  in- 
formed concerning  the  true  history  of  the  grand  discovery. 

It  was  the  perfidy  of  the  chief  conspirator  to  every  one 
who  assisted  him  which  brought  about  the  full  expos- 
ure of  the  truth.  I  have  been  careful  to  let  you  know  at 
every  step  the  whole  truth  as  we  discovered  it  afterwards. 
You  have  understood  the  conspiracy  from  the  outset,  and 
the  villainy  of  all  concerned.  The  woman  in  the  pink  silk 
cloak  has  been  no  mystery  to  you.  Perhaps  you  admire 
our  simplicity  in  not  guessing  the  truth.  Reader,  you  are 
young,  perhaps ;  or  you  have  been  young.  In  either  case, 
I  am  sure  that  you  have  experienced  the  ease  with  which  a 
woman,  lovely,  sympathetic,  winning,  will,  with  the  com- 
bined aid  of  her  beauty,  her  voice,  her  witchcraft,  so  sur- 
round herself  with  an  imaginary  air  of  truth,  sincerity  and 
purity,  as  to  exclude  all  possibility  of  treachery  and  false- 
hood. Lady  Anastasia  had  allowed  me  to  discover, 
whether  by  inadvertence  or  not,  that  she  was  jealous ; 
but  what  did  I  know  of  feminine  jealousy  and  its 
powers?  I  might  have  known,  perhaps,  that  jealousy 
implies  love,  or,  at  least,  the  claim  to  exclusive  pos- 
session ;  but  what  did  I  know  of  the  strength  and  pas- 
sion of  woman's  love  ?  I  was  young  ;  I  was  inexperienced ; 
I  was  a  sailor,  ignorant  of  many  common  wiles ;  I  was 
easily  moved  by  a  woman,  and  I  had  that  universal  respect 
for  rank  which  makes  us  slow  to  believe  that  a  lady  of 
quality  can  be  treated  as  if  it  were  possible  to  suspect  her. 
By  the  same  rule  I  should,  you  will  say,  be  equally  unable 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  CONFEDERATE    349 

to  regard  Lord  Fylingdale  with  suspicion.  But  we  are  not 
always  consistent  with  ourselves.  Besides,  his  lordship  was 
a  man  and  not  a  woman.  Rank  or  no  rank,  we  know  that 
a  man  is  always  a  man.  And,  in  addition,  he  stood  be- 
tween Molly  and  me. 

I  have  said  that  we  were  near  the  end  of  our  troubles. 
One  after  the  other  the  victims  of  Lord  Fylingdale's  per- 
fidy and  of  their  own  wickedness  come  over,  so  to  speak, 
to  the  other  side,  impelled  by  rage  and  the  desire  for  re- 
venge, and  made  confession.  There  were  five — I  take  them 
in  order.  The  first  was  our  old  friend  Sam,  whose  confes- 
sion you  have  heard ;  the  second  was  Colonel  Lanyon. 
Like  the  poet,  he  also  fell  upon  evil  days ;  but,  less  lucky 
than  Sam,  he  lost  his  liberty,  and  became  a  prisoner  for  debt 
in  the  King's  Bench  Prison.  When  such  an  one  is  arrested 
and  thrown  into  prison  he  is  in  grievous,  if  not  in  hopeless 
case ;  for,  supposing  his  brothers  or  cousins  to  be  in  a  re- 
sponsible position,  they  are  ashamed  of  one  who  has  led  the 
life  of  a  gamester  and  a  bully  and  a  decoy.  They  will  not 
help  him  to  begin  again  his  old  life,  and  if  they  are  like 
himself,  they  want  all  they  have  for  their  own  pleasures — 
rakes  being  the  most  selfish  of  all  men — and  so  they  will 
not  help  him.  He  wrote,  therefore,  from  his  prison,  ad- 
dressing himself  to  Captain  Crowle  as  the  guardian  of  the 
lady  for  whose  capture  their  snares  were  set. 

"  Sir,"  he  said,  "  I  am  a  prisoner  for  debt,  lying  in  the 
King's  Bench,  and  likely  to  remain  a  prisoner  for  the  rest 
of  my  life.  I  have  cousins  who  are  prosperous.  They 
refuse  to  assist  me.  Yet  my  detaining  creditors  are  few 
and  the  whole  amount  is  ridiculously  small,  considering  my 
position  and  my  reputation.  That  my  own  cousins  should 
refuse  to  release  me  is,  I  own,  a  matter  which  surprises  me, 
for  I  have  conferred  lustre  upon  a  name  hitherto  obscure 
by  my  gallantry,  my  bravery,  and  my  many  adventures.  It 
is  a  heartless  world.  There  are  many  honest  gentlemen  in 
this  place,  besides  myself,  who  have  found  the  world  heart- 
less and  ungrateful." 

"  Humph  !  "  said  the  vicar,  in  whose  presence  the  cap- 
tain began  to  make  out  this  surprising  letter. 

"  My  misfortunes  are  due  to  no  less  a  person  than  my 
Lord  Fylingdale,  a  man  whose  treachery  and  ingratitude  are 


350  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

not  equalled,  as  far  as  I  know,  by  the  history  of  any  villain 
that  was  ever  hanged." 

"  Why,"  the  captain  interrupted,  "  here's  a  fellow 
catched  in  his  own  toils.  Do  you  read  it,  Jack ;  your  eyes 
are  better  than  mine. 

So  I  took  it.  "  When  I  consider  not  only  his  conduct 
towards  myself,  but  his  systematic  deception  towards  you, 
sir,  I  am  moved  by  indignation  to  write  to  you  and  to  ex- 
pose a  plot  in  which  I  had  a  hand,  but  in  ignorance.  Sir, 
I  would  have  you  know  that  for  many  years  I  have  been  in 
the  employ  of  his  lordship.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing, 
when  an  officer  is  broken  and  cannot  find  employment  for 
his  sword,  to  enter  the  service  of  some  patron,  whom  he 
must  oblige  by  all  means  in  his  power.  In  return,  he  is 
safe  from  arrest,  and  must  take  what  wages  are  given  him. 
My  own  services  were  those  of  a  decoy  to  a  gaming  table, 
in  which  his  lordship  held  a  secret  interest,  and  of  a  duellist 
when  my  sword  would  be  of  use.  In  the  former  capacity 
I  served  his  lordship  for  four  years  faithfully,  bringing 
young  gamesters  to  the  table,  luring  them  on,  playing  high 
for  their  example,  and  winning  pretended  sums  for  their  en- 
couragement. This  kind  of  service  is  perfectly  well  known 
and  understood,  so  that  those  who  knew  that  Lord  Fyling- 
dale  was  my  patron,  knew  also  that  he  had  an  interest  in 
the  bank.  On  three  or  four  occasions,  when  my  lord's 
honour  was  attacked,  or  his  conduct  resented,  I  went  out 
for  him,  and  in  all  such  cases  rendered  it  impossible  for  his 
adversary  to  continue  the  quarrel." 

"  So,"  said  the  vicar,  "  the  fellow  confesses  that  he  is  a 
murderer,  is  he  ?  " 

"In  the  pursuit  of  his  lordship's  service  I  have  cheerfully 
incurred  odium  that  was  rightly  his.  But  this  kind  of  odium 
ends,  as  I  found,  by  blasting  the  reputation  for  honour,  even 
of  a  most  honourable  man,  such  as  myself." 

"  Ha  !  "  cried  the  vicar. 

1  This  odium  now  follows  me  everywhere — from  Bath 
to  Tunbridge,  and  from  Tunbridge  to  London,  so  that  there 
are  not  many  gaming-houses  into  which  I  am  now  suffered 
to  enter,  and  my  company  has  of  late  declined  to  the  level 
of  the  'prentice  and  the  shopkeeper.  I  have  also  been 
driven  off  the  Heath  at  Newmarket,  charged  with  corrupt- 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  CONFEDERATE    351 

ing  the  trainers ;  and  even  at  the  cockpit  I  have  incurred 
suspicion  as  to  doctoring  the  birds.  All — all  was  in  the 
service  of  my  patron." 

"  Villain  !     Villain  !  "  said  the  vicar. 

"In  May  last  I  was  ordered  by  my  lord  to  proceed  to 
Lynn  Regis,  a  town  of  which  I  had  no  knowledge.  There 
was  to  be  a  gaming-table,  in  which,  as  usual,  he  was  inter- 
ested. My  duty  was  again  to  act  as  decoy.  I  was  also, 
at  the  same  time,  to  lose  no  opportunity  of  representing  his 
lordship  as  a  miracle  of  virtue.  The  reason  of  these  orders 
I  did  not  ask.  I  obeyed,  however,  although  it  certainly 
seemed  to  me  that  any  praise  of  virtue  on  the  part  of  a 
gamester  like  myself  would  be  received  with  suspicion. 

"As  regards  the  performance  of  my  duties  at  Lynn  I  say 
nothing.  The  play  was  miserably  low,  in  spite  of  my  own 
example  and  encouragement.  The  company  considered  a 
guinea  a  monstrous  sum  to  lose.  The  bank  made  nothing 
to  speak  of.  As  regards  my  own  private  concerns  there 
was  but  one  man  with  whom  I  transacted  business  worth 
naming.  This,  however,  was  highly  satisfactory,  for,  from 
this  one  person,  without  raising  the  least  suspicion,  I  won 
as  much  as  £1,200,  which  was  to  be  raised  upon  his  estate 
in  the  county.  Three-fourths  of  this  would  go  to  my  lord. 
I  had  not  made  so  successful  a  haul  for  many  years. 

"  Now,  one  morning,  after  a  debauch,  much  heavy  drink- 
ing and  more  losses,  this  gentleman,  Tom  Rising  by  name, 
came  to  me,  and  confided  to  me  under  the  oath  of  secrecy, 
his  intention  of  carrying  off  that  very  night  the  heiress  of 
Lynn,  as  she  was  called.  If  he  succeeded,  he  would  pay 
the  whole  of  his  losses  the  very  next  day.  If  not,  he  must 
wait  until  the  money  could  be  raised.  In  order  to  effect 
this  object  he  would  have  to  go  to  Norwich  ;  the  business 
would  take  time.  But  he  was  sure  of  success.  He  could 
not  fail.  He  further  described  to  me  the  plan  he  had 
formed,  and  the  place  whither  he  would  carry  the  girl. 

"  By  this  time  I  had  formed  a  pretty  good  guess  of  my 
patron's  intention  in  coming  to  Lynn.  Accordingly  I  laid 
the  matter  before  him." 

"  After  an  oath  of  secrecy,"  said  the  vicar. 

"  He  considered  a  great  while,  then  he  said,  c  Colonel, 
this  affair  may  turn  out  the  most  lucky  thing  that  could 


352  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

possibly  happen.  Be  in  the  card  room  in  readiness.  We 
will  let  the  fellow  go  of?  with  the  girl,  then  I  shall  follow 
and  rescue  her.  Do  you  understand  ? ' 

"  I  understand  that  he  desired  the  good  grace  of  the  lady, 
and  that  such  a  rescue  could  not  fail  to  procure  her  favour 
unless  he  had  already  obtained  it.  i  But/  I  said,  4  this  man 
is  a  bull  for  strength.  He  will  fight  for  the  girl,  and  he 
will  be  like  a  mad  bull.  It  is  dangerous.' 

"'  I  will  myself,'  he  replied, 4  undertake  to  tame  this  bull. 
Man,  do  you  suppose  that  a  master  of  fence  can  fear  the 
result  of  an  encounter  with  a  fellow  always  half  drunk  and 
on  this  occasion,  which  makes  the  thing  more  easy,  more 
than  half  mad  with  rage  and  disappointment.' 

"Sir,  you  know  the  rest.  The  abduction  of  the  lady 
was  known  beforehand  by  my  lord  and  myself.  He  might 
have  stopped  it,  but  that  he  wanted  the  honour  and  the 
glory  of  the  rescue." 

"  There  is  no  end  or  limit  to  the  villainy  of  the  pair," 
said  the  vicar. 

"The  next  day,  Tom  Rising  having  a  sword  wound  in 
the  right  shoulder,  I  waited  upon  his  lordship.  I  pointed 
out  that  the  serious  wound  inflicted  on  Mr.  Rising  had 
brought  his  life  in  danger;  that  even  if  he  recovered,  his 
old  friends,  who  were  very  angry  with  him  for  the  attempted 
abduction,  would  have  no  more  to  do  with  him ;  that,  from 
all  I  had  heard,  he  would  with  difficulty  raise  so  much 
money  as  he  owed  me  upon  an  estate  already  dipped ;  that 
he  had  other  creditors;  and  that  one  result  of  the  business 
was  that  we  had  possibly  lost  ^"1,200  or  a  good  part  of  it, 
of  which  one-fourth,  or  .£300,  would  have  been  my  share, 
and  I  asked  my  lord,  point  blank,  if  he  thought  I  could 
afford  to  lose  £300. 

"  My  lord  laughed  pleasantly.  l  Shall  a  trifle  of  .£300 
part  two  old  friends,  colonel  ?  Not  so ;  not  so.  When 
I  marry  this  heiress,  not  .£300,  but  a  thousand  shall  be 
yours.  Remember,  write  it  down.  It  is  a  promise.  After 
my  marriage  I  will  give  you  a  clear  thousand  to  repay  your 
losses  and  expenses.' 

"This  was  a  promise  on  which  I  relied.  And  you  may 
imagine  my  satisfaction  when  I  heard  that  my  lord  had  been 
married  privately  at  six  in  the  morning.  I  waited  on  him 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  CONFEDERATE    353 

at  once  for  the  money.  c  Patience,  man,'  he  said,  '  I  must 
first  touch  it  myself.  I  cannot  get  at  the  money  without 
certain  forms.  There  shall  be  no  needless  delay.'  So  I 
refrained. 

"  I  had  been  put  to  heavy  expenses  by  going  to  Lynn 
and  living  there.  I  had  to  keep  up  the  outward  appearance 
of  substance ;  I  threw  money  about ;  I  ordered  bowls  of 
punch;  I  lost  over  a  hundred  pounds  in  establishing  my 
credit  on  a  firm  basis;  I  won  nothing  to  speak  of,  except 
from  Tom  Rising.  In  the  end  I  was  publicly  insulted  and 
exposed  by  a  vulgar  beast  called  Gizzard,  after  his  low 
trade.  This  was  in  the  presence  of  Tom  Rising  himself, 
who  thereupon  swore  that  he  would  pay  me  nothing.  The 
world  is  full  of  men  always  ready  to  repudiate  their  debts 
of  honour." 

u  It  is,  indeed,"  said  the  vicar,  "  and  of  men  who  do  not 
act  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  honour." 

"  Sir,  you  will  hardly  believe  me.  My  lord  now  refuses 
to  pay  even  my  expenses.  He  owes  me  a  thousand  pounds 
promised  as  my  share  in  the  business.  I  have  spent  one 
hundred  pounds  in  establishing  my  credit  and  another  hun- 
dred for  my  personal  expenses — in  all,  .£1,200. 

"  Now,  sir,  1  have  a  proposition  to  make.  I  know  the  dis- 
pute about  the  alleged  marriage.  I  believe  there  was  a  per- 
sonation and  that  I  know  the  woman  who  personated  your 
deeply-injured  ward  in  the  church.  Pay  me  ,£1,200  and  I 
will  name  her." 

"  Softly,"  said  the  vicar.  "  To  name  the  lady  is  not  to 
prove  the  personation." 

"  You  cannot  hesitate,"  the  letter  went  on.  "  Already 
I  am  sure  my  lord  has  wasted  ten  times  that  sum.  I  hear 
from  all  sides  that  he  is  like  one  who  squanders  an  inex- 
haustible treasure.  Send  me  this  money  and  I  will  put  you 
in  the  way  of  exposing  him  to  the  world  as  a  conspirator 
and  of  putting  a  stop  to  further  robbery.  You  shall  at 
least  be  enabled  to  save  what  is  left. 

"  As  you  may  require  a  few  days  to  deliberate  over  this 
proposal  I  beg  you  to  let  me  have  by  the  first  opportunity  a 
few  guineas  in  advance.  Otherwise  I  shall  have  to  part 
with  my  clothes.  In  my  line  of  life  a  good  appearance  is 
essential.  Should  I  be  driven  to  that  necessity  I  shall  in- 


354 


THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 


deed  be  ruined  for  life,  because  I  shall  have  to  go  over  to 
the  common  side  where  my  accomplishments  and  skill  will 
be  of  no  use  whatever  to  me." 

"  He  means  that  you  cannot  get  any  profit  by  cheating 
at  play  those  who  have  nothing.  Is  that  all,  Jack  ?  " 

"  That  is  all."  I  folded  the  letter  and  gave  it  to  the 
captain. 

"To  name  thejady,  I  say,"  the  vicar  repeated,  "is  not 
to  prove  the  crime.  It  might,  however,  suggest  an  ex- 
planation to  the  mystery.  The  letter  proves  that  there  is 
an  explanation.  Still,  captain,  my  opinion  is  that  the 
writer  of  this  letter  should  receive  no  answer.  There  is 
no  hardship  before  him  which  he  has  not  deserved.  Let 
him  lie  in  his  prison  and  repent.  l  Let  the  wicked  be 
ashamed  and  let  them  be  silent  in  the  grave.  Let  the  lying 
lips  be  put  to  silence.'  Captain,  let  us  have  no  traffic  with 
this  ungodly  man.  Let  him  henceforth  be  silent  in  his 
grave." 


CHAPTER  XLII 

THE    THIRD    AND   THE    FOURTH    CONFEDERATE 

THE  voice  of  the  third  confederate  followed.  It  was  a 
voice  from  the  tomb.  Sir  Harry  Malyns,  the  poor  old 
butterfly  who  had  lived  for  nigh  upon  eighty  years  in  the 
world  of  fashion ;  who  had  spent  his  patrimony,  and  had, 
in  the  end,  been  reduced  to  the  miserable  work  of  a  decoy, 
as  you  have  heard,  was  at  last  summoned  to  render  an  ac- 
count of  his  life.  What  an  account  to  render !  So  many 
thousand  nights  at  the  gaming-table ;  so  many  thousand  at 
suppers  and  after;  so  many  debauches;  so  many  days  of 
idle  talk ;  the  whole  of  his  long  life  devoted  to  the  pursuit 
of  pleasure,  as  the  people  of  fashion  call  pleasure.  How- 
ever, the  old  man  was  at  last  seized  with  a  mortal  illness ; 
at  the  approach  of  death  some  of  the  scales  fell  from  his 
eyes ;  his  former  ideas  of  honour  came  back  to  him.  He 
repented  of  his  degradation  as  the  secret  servant  of  Lord 
Fylingdale  ;  he  repented  of  his  share  in  the  deception  which 
led  to  the  promise,  if  not  the  performance,  of  marriage  be- 
tween his  patron  and  Miss  Molly. 

And  he  dictated  to  some  one,  who  attended  him  in  his 
last  moments,  a  brief  note  which  was  accepted  in  the  spirit 
of  forgiveness,  which  he  desired. 

The  communication  was  addressed  to  Captain  Crowle. 
"The  following  words,"  it  was  written,  "were  in  substance 
dictated  by  the  late  Sir  Harry  Malyns  in  his  last  illness, 
namely,  the  day  before  he  became  unconscious,  in  which 
condition  he  lingered  for  forty -eight  hours,  when  he 
breathed  his  last." 

There  was  neither  signature,  nor  was  the  place  of  the 
deceased  gentleman's  last  illness  indicated.  The  following 
were  the  words  dictated  : 

"  I,  Sir  Harry  Malyns,  baronet,  being  now,  I  believe,  at 
the  point  of  death,  am  greatly  troubled  in  my  conscience 

355 


356  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

over  the  part  I  played  in  the  deception  of  Captain  Crowle, 
of  King's  Lynn ;  his  ward,  Miss  Molly ;  and  the  people 
of  the  place,  as  to  the  character  and  principles  of  the  Earl 
of  Fylingdale.  I  very  soon  discovered  his  design  in  going 
to  the  town,  and  his  hopes  of  securing  the  fortune  of  the 
lady  called  the  heiress  of  Lynn.  My  own  part,  to  deceive 
his  friends  in  the  way  indicated,  I  performed  with  zeal,  be- 
ing but  the  creature  and  servant  of  his  lordship,  with  no 
hope  of  help  from  any  other  quarter,  should  I  lose  his  pat- 
ronage. It  was  a  most  dishonourable  part  to  play,  unworthy 
of  my  name  and  of  my  family.  I  desire  to  convey  to  the 
young  lady  my  humble  request  for  her  forgiveness,  and  my 
hope  that  a  way  may  be  found  for  her  out  of  the  toils 
spread  for  her  by  myself  and  others,  his  creatures  and  ser- 
vants. 

"  There  is,  I  learn,  a  denial  on  the  lady's  part  as  to  her 
marriage  at  all.  Of  this  I  know  nothing.  But  I  am  as- 
sured in  my  own  mind  that  if  this  denial  involves  any  act  of 
treachery,  perfidy,  fraud,  or  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  his 
lordship,  on  that  account  alone,  and  without  considering 
the  many  virtues,  the  candour,  truth,  and  innocence  of  the 
lady,  I  should  accept  her  denial.  But  in  this  crowning  act 
of  treachery,  I  rejoice  that  I  have  had  neither  part  nor  lot." 

There  was  no  signature,  but  there  seemed  no  reason  to 
entertain  a  doubt  as  to  the  genuine  character  of  the  com- 
munication. The  old  man  on  his  deathbed  returned  to  a 
late  recognition  of  the  laws  of  honour  and  a  late  repentance. 

"  He  was  a  poor  creature,"  said  the  vicar.  "He  was 
entirely  made  up  of  stays  and  wig  and  powder.  He  ought 
to  have  been  taken  about  the  country  in  order  to  show  the 
world  the  true  meaning  of  a  fribble  and  a  beau.  It  is, 
however,  something  to  his  credit  that  in  the  end  he  remem- 
bered the  old  tradition,  and  saw  himself  as  he  was.  Pray 
Heaven  that  his  repentance  was  thorough  !  " 

"  Let  us  at  least  forgive  him,"  said  Molly.  "  He  seemed 
a  harmless  old  gentleman.  One  would  never  have  thought 
him  capable  of  acting  so  dishonourable  a  part.  But  he  re- 
pented. We  must  forgive  him." 

"  Meantime,  we  are  no  nearer  the  mysterious  woman 
who  personated  you,  Molly  ;  nor  do  we  understand  why 
she  did  it ;  nor  do  we  understand  how  it  was  done." 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  CONFEDERATE    357 

A  week  later  came  another  letter.  This  time  it  was  from 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  Purdon,  A.  M.  It  was  a  truly  impu- 
dent letter,  worthy  of  the  man  and  his  character. 

"  To  CAPTAIN  CROWLE. 

"  SIR, — I  have  hesitated  for  some  time  whether  to 
address  you  on  the  subject  of  your  ward's  pretended  mar- 
riage with  my  late  patron,  Lord  Fylingdale.  I  say  pre- 
tended because  I  am  in  a  position  to  expose  the  whole  de- 
ception. I  can  place  you  in  possession  of  the  whole  of  the 
facts.  They  are  simple ;  they  cannot  be  denied  or  dis- 
proved. Your  ward  was  not  in  the  church  at  all ;  she  was 
not  married  ;  her  place  was  taken  by  a  woman  who  per- 
sonated her,  appearing  in  your  ward's  dress,  namely,  a  pink 
silk  cloak,  the  hood  thrown  over  her  head.  I,  who  per- 
formed the  ceremony,  was  deceived.  That  is  to  say,  I  was 
told  the  name  of  the  bride  and  there  was  nothing  to  awaken 
any  suspicions.  At  this  point,  and  as  a  proof  that  part  of 
this  story  is  true,  I  would  ask  your  ward  to  write  her  name 
in  full,  and  I  would  then  ask  you  to  compare  that  writing 
with  the  signature  in  the  registers." 

"  Are  we  stupid  ?  "  cried  the  vicar.  "  Have  we  been 
struck  with  judicial  stupidity  ?  Let  us  instantly,  without 
any  delay,  proceed  to  this  test.  Molly,  my  dear,  get  paper, 
pen  and  ink.  .  .  .  So — now  sit  at  the  table.  Write 
your  name  as  you  usually  write  it  when  you  sign  a  letter." 

"  But  I  never  write  any  letters,"  said  Molly. 

"  She  writes  the  names  on  the  pots  of  pickles  and  the 
preserved  fruit,"  said  the  captain.  "  Come,  Molly,  you  can 
sign  your  name." 

The  girl  blushed  and  seized  the  pen.  It  was  not  with 
the  pen  of  a  ready  writer  that  she  wrote,  in  a  clumsy  hand 
— a  hand  unaccustomed  to  such  writing — her  name  "  Molly 
Miller." 

"  Is  this  your  best  writing,  Molly  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  sir,  I  am  ashamed  that  it  is  no  better.  At 
school  I  learned  better,  but  I  have  so  little  occasion  to 
write." 

"So  long  as  it  is  the  signature  you  would  use  in  the 
church,  it  will  serve,"  said  the  vicar.  "  Come,  let  us  to 
St.  Nicholas  at  once,  and  send  for  the  clerk.  We  will  ex- 


358  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

amine  these  registers,  and  we  will  read  the  rest  of  the  letter 
afterwards." 

The  chest  was  unlocked  ;  the  registers  were  taken  out ; 
the  books  were  opened  at  the  right  page.  The  vicar  laid 
Molly's  writing  beside  that  of  the  register. 

"  You  see,"  said  the  vicar,  "  the  very  signature  proclaims 
the  cheat.  We  have  been,  of  a  verity,  seized  with  judicial 
blindness  for  our  sins." 

The  differences  were  not  such  as  could  be  explained 
away,  for  the  signature  in  the  book  was  round  and  full  and 
flowing — a  bold  signature  for  a  woman — every  letter  well 
formed  and  of  equal  size,  and  in  a  straight  line ;  the  work 
of  one  who  wrote  many  letters,  and  prided  herself,  appar- 
ently, on  the  clearness  and  beauty  of  her  hand.  Molly's, 
on  the  other  hand,  showed  letters  awkwardly  formed,  not 
in  line,  of  unequal  height,  and  the  evident  work  of  one  un- 
accustomed to  writing. 

"  What  doubt  have  we  now  ?  "  asked  the  vicar.  "  My 
friends,  I  see  daylight.  But  let  us  return  to  complete  my 
reverend  brother's  letter." 

The  letter  thus  continued  : 

"  You  have  now,  I  take  it,  satisfied  yourself  that  your 
ward  could  not  possibly  have  penned  that  signature.  You 
have  no  doubt,  if  you  had  any  before,  that  your  ward's 
denial  was  the  truth. 

"  At  the  same  time  you  do  not  appear  to  have  considered 
the  matter  worth  fighting.  It  was  not,  for  assuredly  a  court 
of  justice,  even  with  the  handwriting  as  evidence,  would 
have  decided  against  you.  So  far,  you  were  well  advised. 

"  You,  therefore,  withdrew  opposition,  and  suffered  the 
husband  to  take  over,  what  he  claimed,  control  of  the 
estate. 

"  From  what  I  am  informed,  he  is  pursuing  a  course  of 
mad  riot,  in  which  he  alone  sits  cold  and  composed,  as  is 
his  wont,  for  the  contemplation  of  wickedness  in  action  is 
more  to  his  taste  than  becoming  an  actor  himself ;  he  is 
also  playing  and  losing  heavily.  Therefore,  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe  that  he  will  before  long  get  through  the 
estate  of  his  so-called  wife.  I  hope  he  will,  because  he 
will  then  have  nothing  left  at  all,  and  the  last  state  of  that 
man  will  be  as  miserable  as  he  deserves." 


THIRD  AND  FOURTH  CONFEDERATE    359 

"  This  man,  too,  has  his  revenge  in  sight,"  said  the 
vicar. 

"  I  come  now  to  the  main  point.  I  do  not  suppose  that 
more  than  the  third,  or  so,  of  your  ward's  fortune  has  yet 
been  wasted.  I  will  enable  you  to  save  the  rest. 

"  For  a  certain  consideration,  I  need  not  write  down  its 
nature,  my  noble  patron  promised  to  pay  me  ,£12,000  on 
his  marriage  with  this  heiress.  It  is  a  large  sum  of  money, 
but  the  service  I  rendered  was  worth  more." 

"It  was  his  own  confederacy,  I  suppose." 

"  For  the  honour  of  the  British  aristocracy  I  regret  to 
inform  you  that  Lord  Fylingdale  repudiates  the  contract. 
He  says  that  I  may  take  any  steps  I  please,  but  he  refuses 
to  pay.  That  the  consideration — but  I  need  not  go  on ; 
in  a  word,  he  will  give  me  nothing. 

"  Under  these  circumstances  I  will  expose  the  whole 
affair,  and  put  an  end,  at  least,  to  his  further  depredations. 
If,  therefore,  you  take  over  this  obligation  upon  yourself  I 
am  prepared  to  draw  up  an  account  of  the  whole  business; 
the  personation  of  your  ward,  the  reasons  and  the  manner 
of  it,  and  an  explanation  of  the  very  remarkable  coincidence 
— so  remarkable  as  to  seem  impossible — of  the  substitution 
of  one  woman  for  another  at  a  moment's  notice.  I  further 
promise  that  this  information  will  at  once  turn  the  tables ; 
that  you  can  refuse  to  let  his  lordship  interfere  further  with 
your  ward's  estate ;  and  that  you  can  take  steps  to  declare 
the  so-called  marriage  null  and  void.  Nothing  shall  be  left 
for  explanation ;  all  shall  be  quite  simple  and  straightfor- 
ward ;  and  I  can  put  evidence  in  your  hands  which  you 
little  suspect. 

"  Further,  I  promise  and  engage  to  ask  for  nothing  until 
I  have  proved  all  that  has  to  be  proved  and  have  established 
the  fact  that  your  ward  was  not  married  by  me. 

"  You  can  send  me  twenty-five  guineas  in  advance.  It 
can  go  to  London  to  the  coach  office  of  the  '  Swan  with 
Four  Necks,'  where  I  will  call  for  it. 

"  I  am,  naturally,  after   so  great  a  disappointment,  much 
in  want  of  money,  therefore  I  shall  be  obliged  if  you  will 
make  the  advance  fifty  instead  of  twenty-five  guineas, 
"(Signed)         BENJAMIN  PURDON, 

"Clerk  in' Holy  Orders." 


360  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

We  looked  at  each  other  in  silence. 

"  To  procure  thy  freedom,  Molly,"  said  the  vicar,  taking 
her  hand,  "  there  is  nothing  which  we  would  not  do — that 
honest  men  dare  to  do.  But  let  us  not  be  drawn  away 
from  our  duty.  We  will  have  no  part  nor  lot  nor  any 
traffic  with  rogues.  This  man  is  an  arch  rogue.  This 
letter  is  the  letter  of  a  villain,  who  is,  one  would  say — the 
Lord  forgive  me  for  saying  so  of  a  fellow  sinner ! — beyond 
the  power  of  repentance  and  beyond  the  hope  of  forgive- 
ness. Patience,  Molly,  I  think  that  we  shall  soon  be  re- 
warded— even  with  the  loss  of  all  thy  worldly  goods." 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

THE    FIFTH    AND    LAST    CONFEDERATE 

AND  then  came  the  final  revelation — the  confession  of 
the  fifth  and  last  confederate — which  cleared  up  the  whole 
mystery  and  explained  that  which,  with  one  consent,  we 
had  all  declared  to  be  wholly  unintelligible. 

The  counsel  learned  in  the  law  gave  his  written  opinion 
that,  considering  that  the  marriage  ceremony  was  fixed  for 
6  A.  M.,  the  bridegroom  had  no  knowledge  of  the  bride's  in- 
tention not  to  present  herself;  that  he  left  his  lodgings  a 
few  minutes  before  six ;  that  a  few  minutes  after  six,  one 
Pentecrosse,  well  known  to  the  lady,  witnessed  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  and  believed  the  bride  to  be  the  lady  in 
question,  dressed  as  she  was  accustomed  to  dress,  although 
he  did  not  see  her  face ;  that  the  parish  clerk  also  recognised 
the  lady  ;  that  the  clergyman  was  ready  to  swear  that  the 
bride  was  the  lady ;  and  that  the  register  showed  her  signa- 
ture. There  could  be  no  change  whatever  of  success  in 
disputing  or  denying  the  marriage. 

The  vicar,  perceiving  the  weight  of  evidence,  and  adding 
to  it  the  apparent  impossibility  of  procuring  at  a  moment's 
notice  the  personation  of  the  bride,  reluctantly  advised  sub- 
mission, while  being  firmly  persuaded  that  Molly  and  her 
mother  had  spoken  the  truth,  and  that  there  was  devilry 
somewhere. 

We  submitted,  with  what  results  you  have  seen. 

It  is,  I  believe,  a  rule  that  some  playwriters,  where  they 
have  a  plot  with  a  mystery  or  a  secret  in  it,  to  keep  the 
audience  in  ignorance,  and  so  to  heighten  their  interest, 
until  the  revelation  in  the  last  act  clears  up  the  mystery 
and  relieves  the  spectators  of  their  suspense.  Others,  again, 
allow  the  audience  to  understand  at  the  outset  that  their 
heroine  or  hero  is  the  victim  of  villainy,  but  do  not  explain 
the  full  nature  of  that  villainy  until  the  end,  when  the  plots 
of  the  wicked  are  brought  to  light. 

361 


362  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

I  have  told  this  tale  without  the  art  of  the  playwright.  I 
have  shown  you  exactly  how  things  happened,  though  we 
only  discovered  the  truth  long  afterwards.  For  instance, 
you  know  already  what  was  the  full  explanation  of  the  mar- 
riage which  I  witnessed;  you  know  the  surprise  with  which 
the  bridegroom  discovered  the  truth,  and  you  know  besides 
the  impudent  use  which,  by  the  advice  of  the  Reverend 
Benjamin  Purdon,  was  made  of  that  discovery.  Also  you 
know  the  reason  of  the  personation  and  the  person  by 
whose  indiscreet  chattering  it  became  possible. 

I  have  now  to  tell  you  how  we  ourselves  discovered  the 
truth. 

After  the  arrival  of  the  letters  already  described,  nothing 
new  was  learned  for  some  months.  That  is  to  say,  Colonel 
Lanyon  wrote  no  more;  the  Reverend  Mr.  Purdon,  though 
he  continued  to  write  letters  which  threatened  conceal- 
ment and  offered  exposure,  alternately ;  though  his  demand 
for  money  dropped  with  every  letter  until  he  had  become  a 
mere  beggar,  offering  to  reveal  the  whole  in  return  for  the 
relief  of  his  present  necessities;  gave  no  hint  of  the  nature 
of  the  exposure  he  desired  to  sell.  But  he  had  received,  so 
far,  no  reply  to  any  of  his  letters. 

Between  January  and  June  my  ship  made  another  voyage 
to  Lisbon  and  back.  When  I  landed,  what  I  had  to  learn 
was  the  continual  solicitation  of  Mr.  Purdon,  and  the  con- 
tinual waste  of  the  fortune.  The  demand  for  money  never 
ceased.  "  Send  up  more  money — more  money — more 
money.  His  lordship  is  in  urgent  want  of  more  money." 

By  this  time  a  whole  year  had  passed  since  the  pretended 
marriage  and  our  submission.  Never  was  a  magnificent 
property  so  destroyed  and  diminished  in  so  short  a  time. 
Farms,  lands,  houses  were  sold  for  what  they  would  fetch 
— at  half  their  value — a  quarter  of  their  value.  All  the 
money  out  at  mortgage  had  been  called  in — all  the  money 
received  at  the  quay  and  the  counting-house  had  been  sent 
to  his  lordship's  attorneys.  In  one  short  twelvemonth  the 
destruction  had  been  such  that  in  June  there  was  actually 
nothing  left — nothing  out  of  that  princely  fortune,  except 
the  fleet  of  ships  and  the  general  business.  "  And  now, 
Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  said  the  manager  (lately  clerk  and  ac- 
countant) "  the  end  draweth  nigh.  A  few  more  weeks  or 


FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE      363 

months  and  this  great  shipping  firm,  near  a  hundred  years 
old,  which  hath  sent  its  ships  all  about  the  world ;  the  most 
important  house  outside  London  and  Bristol,  will  put  up  its 
shutters  and  close  its  door.  Alas  !  The  pity  of  it !  The 
pity  of  it !  " 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  this  spendthrift  lord,  this  waster  and  de- 
vourer,  surely  will  not  destroy  the  very  spring  and  fountain 
of  this  wealth." 

"  I  know  not.  He  seems  possessed  with  a  devil." 
Here  the  manager  was  wrong,  because  he  was  possessed  of 
seven  devils.  "  His  waste  is  nothing  short  of  madness.  It 
seems  as  if  he  was  unable  to  look  before  him,  even  in  such 
a  simple  matter  as  the  origin  of  the  money,  which  he  has 
obtained  by  marriage — if  he  is  married — and  is  now  wast- 
ing as  fast  as  he  can." 

It  is  in  no  way  profitable,  unless  one  is  a  divine,  to 
search  into  the  heart  of  the  wicked  man.  The  psalmist, 
who  was  continually  troubled  by  considering  the  ways  of 
the  ungodly,  supplies  us  with  sufficient  guidance  as  to  his 
mind  and  his  thoughts.  In  the  case  of  Lord  Fylingdale,  I 
would  compare  him  with  the  highwaymen  and  common 
thieves  in  one  particular,  namely,  that  they  seem  to  have  no 
power  of  thrift  or  of  prudence,  but  must  continually  waste 
and  devour  what  they  acquire  without  honest  labour.  It  is 
as  if  they  understood  that  their  way  of  life  being  uncertain, 
and  the  end  at  any  time  possible,  their  only  chance  of  en- 
joyment is  the  present  moment.  Now,  Lord  Fylingdale 
was  using  the  proceeds  of  an  enormous  robbery  obtained 
by  a  fraud  of  incredible  audacity.  I  think  he  felt  the  un- 
certainty of  his  hold.  It  depended  on  the  silence  of  two 
persons.  Should  these  two  persons  unite  in  revealing  the 
conspiracy  he  would  at  least  be  able  to  rob  no  longer. 
Now,  he  had  already  alienated  both  of  them.  The  one  he 
had  filled  with  a  passion  for  revenge ;  the  other  . 
but  you  shall  hear.  I  think,  moreover,  that  he  found  a 
gambler's  joy  in  the  handling  of  large  sums  and  playing 
with  them ;  that  he  kept  no  account  of  the  money  he  lost ; 
and  that,  with  his  companions,  he  kept  a  kind  of  open 
house  at  certain  taverns  for  the  debauches  over  which  he 
presided,  without  condescending  in  person  to  join  the 
drunken  orgy.  Did  he  find  a  strange  enjoyment  in  the 


364  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

debauchery  of  others  ?  Men  have  been  known — I  cannot 
understand  it — to  delight  in  torturing  other  men  and  in 
witnessing  their  agonies ;  men  might  also — I  know  not  how 
— take  a  delight  in  witnessing  orgies  and  in  listening  to  the 
discourses  of  drunken  rakes.  But  it  is  not  profitable,  as  I 
said,  to  dwell  upon  the  mind  of  such  a  man. 

It  was  on  the  ifth  of  June — I  remember  the  date  well — 
and  shall  always  remember  it.  The  Lady  of  Lynn  had  ar- 
rived two  days  before,  and  we  were  moored  off  the  quay. 
At  ten  o'clock,  or  thereabouts,  one  of  the  stable  boys  from 
the  house  came  aboard  bringing  a  message  for  me.  A  lady, 
lodging  at  the  "  Crown,"  desired  to  see  me  immediately. 
The  lady  had  arrived  in  the  evening  in  a  post-chaise,  having 
with  her  a  maid.  She  had  given  no  name,  but  in  the 
morning  had  asked  if  my  ship  was  in  port,  and  on  learning 
that  it  was  she  desired  that  a  boy  from  the  stables  might 
carry  this  message  to  me. 

I  landed  at  our  own  quay — I  say  our  own,  but  it  was  no 
longer  ours,  that  is,  Molly's  quay.  At  the  door  of  the 
counting-house  stood  the  manager  in  conversation  with  the 
captain  of  one  of  our  ships.  He  beckoned  me  to  speak 
with  him.  When  he  had  finished  his  discourse  with  the 
captain  he  turned  to  me. 

"Mr.  Pentecrosse,"  he  said,  "  the  worst  has  now  begun. 
Tell  Captain  Crowle — I  should  choke  if  I  had  to  tell  him. 
Alas  !  poor  man  !  It  seems  as  if  the  work  of  his  life  was 
ruined  and  destroyed."  So  saying  he  handed  me  a  letter  to 
read.  It  was  from  my  lord's  attorneys,  Messrs.  Bisse  and 
Son.  "  I  suppose,"  said  the  manager,  "  that  they  are  really 
acting  for  his  lordship.  Their  power  of  attorney  cannot  be 
denied,  can  it  ?  Mr.  Redman  says  that  there  is  nothing 
for  it  but  obedience." 

The  letter  was  short : 

"  We  have  noted  your  information  conveyed  in  the  last  schedule. 
You  are  now  instructed  to  proceed  with  the  sale  of  one  of  the 
ships.  Let  her  be  sold  as  she  stands  on  arriving  in  port  with  so 
much  of  the  cargo  as  belongs  to  your  house.  My  lord  is  urgently 
pressed  for  money,  and  begs  that  there  may  be  no  delay.  Mean- 
time send  a  draft  by  the  usual  channel  for  money  in  hand. 
"  Your  obedient  servants, 

"  BISSE  AND  SON." 


FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE      365 

"  A  draft  for  monies  in  hand ! "  cried  the  manager. 
"  There  are  no  monies  in  hand  !  And  I  have  to  sell  with- 
out delay  a  tall  ship,  cargo  and  all,  as  she  stands.  Without 
delay  !  Who  is  to  buy  that  ship — without  delay  ? " 

I  returned  him  the  letter  and  shook  my  head.  My  ship, 
perhaps,  was  the  one  to  be  sold.  She  was  the  latest  arrival ; 
she  was  filled  with  wine ;  the  cargo  belonged  altogether  to 
the  house.  So  I  should  be  turned  adrift  when  just  within 
hail,  so  to  speak,  of  becoming  a  captain.  I  could  say  noth- 
ing in  consolation  or  in  hope.  I  walked  away,  my  heart  as 
heavy  as  lead.  Never  before  had  I  felt  the  true  meaning 
of  this  ruin  and  waste.  All  around  me  the  noble  edifice 
built  by  Molly's  grandfather  and  her  father,  and  continued 
by  her  guardian,  had  been  pulled  down  bit  by  bit.  But  one 
felt  the  loss  of  a  farm  or  a  house  very  little.  It  was  not 
until  the  ships,  too,  were  threatened,  that  the  full  enormity 
of  the  thing — the  incredible  wickedness  of  the  conspirators, 
was  borne  in  upon  my  mind.  It  threatened  to  ruin  me, 
you  see,  as  well  as  Molly. 

Therefore,  I  walked  across  the  market-place  to  the 
Crown  Inn  more  gloomy  in  my  mind  than  I  can  describe. 
Hitherto,  somehow,  a  ship  seemed  safe;  no  one  would 
interfere  with  a  ship ;  like  Lord  Fylingdale  himself,  I  was 
ready  to  ask  whether  a  ship  could  be  bought  and  sold. 
That  is  to  say,  I  knew  that  she  was  often  bought  and  sold, 
but  I  never  thought  that  any  of  Molly's  ships — any  other 
ships  as  much  as  you  please,  but  not  Molly's  ship — could 
be  brought  to  the  hammer. 

The  lady  sent  word  that  she  would  receive  me.  Imagine 
my  surprise  !  She  was  none  other  than  the  Lady  Anas- 
tasia.  She  was  greatly  changed  in  six  months.  I  had  seen 
her  last,  you  remember,  in  January,  when  I  met  her  in  the 
park.  She  was  then  finely  dressed,  and  appeared  in  good 
case,  what  we  call  a  buxom  widow — in  other  words,  a 
handsome  woman,  with  a  winning  manner  and  a  smiling 
face.  This  she  was  when  I  met  her.  When  I  left  her  on 
that  occasion  she  was  a  handsome  woman  marred  with  a 
consuming  wrath. 

Now,  I  should  hardly  have  known  her.  She  was  plainly 
attired,  without  patches  or  paint,  wearing  a  grey  silk  dress. 
But  the  chief  change  was  not  in  her  dress,  but  in  her  face. 


366  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

She  was  pale,  and  her  cheeks  were  haggard.  She  looked 
like  a  woman  who  had  recently  suffered  a  severe  illness, 
and  was,  indeed,  not  yet  fully  recovered. 

"Jack,"  she  advanced,  giving  me  her  hand  with  her  old 
graciousness,  "  you  are  very  good  to  come  when  I  call.  It 
is  the  last  time  that  you  will  obey  any  call  from  me." 

"  Why  the  last  time,  madam  ?  " 

"  Because,  Jack,  I  am  now  going  to  make  you  my  bitter 
enemy.  Yes,  my  enemy  for  life."  She  tried  to  smile,  but 
her  eyes  grew  humid.  "I  can  never  be  regarded  hence- 
forth as  anything  else.  You  will  despise  me — you  will  curse 
me.  Yet  I  must  needs  speak." 

"  Madam.  I  protest — I  know  not  what  you  mean." 

u  And  I,  Jack,  I  protest — know  not  how  to  begin.  Do 
you  remember  last  January,  when  we  talked  together  ?  Let 
me  begin  there.  Yes;  it  will  be  best  to  begin  there.  I 
do  not  think  I  could  begin  at  the  other  end.  It  would  be 
like  a  bath  of  ice-cold  water  in  January." 

"  I  remember  our  conversation,  madam." 

"You  told  me — what  was  it  you  told  me?  Something 
about  a  certain  box,  or  cs.se  of  jewels." 

"  Molly's  jewels.  Yes,  I  told  you  how  his  lordship 
seized  upon  them  at  the  first  when  he  claimed  control  over 
Molly's  fortune." 

"You  told  me  that.  It  was  in  January.  He  had  seized 
upon  them  six  months  before.  The  thing  surprised  me. 
He  had  always  told  me  that  he  could  not  get  those  jewels — 
and  Jack,  you  see,  they  were  my  own." 

"Yours,  madam  ?     But — they  were  Molly's." 

"  Not  at  all.  Molly,  after  her  marriage,  had  nothing. 
All  became  my  lord's  property.  The  jewels  were  mine, 
Jack — mine  by  promise  and  compact." 

I  understood  nothing. 

"  I  have  seen  in  France,  the  women  kneeling  at  the  boxes 
where  they  confess  to  the  priest.  Jack,  will  you  be  my 
priest?  I  can  confess  to  you  what  I  could  never  confess 
to  Molly — though  I  have  wronged  her — Jack  !  Oh  !  my 

priest "  Here  she  fell  on  her  knees  and  clasped  her 

hands.  "  No — no,"  she  cried.  "  I  will  not  rise.  On  my 
knees,  on  my  knees — not  to  ask  your  pardon,  but  for  the 
shame  and  the  disgrace  and  the  villainy." 


FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE      367 

"  Madam — I  pray — I  entreat." 

I  took  her  by  both  hands.  I  half  lifted  her  and  half 
assisted  her.  She  sank  into  an  armchair  sobbing  and  cry- 
ing, and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands.  She  was  not 
play  acting.  No — no — it  was  real  sorrow — true  shame. 
Oh !  there  was  revenge  as  well.  No  doubt  there  was  re- 
venge. If  she  had  been  wicked,  she  had  also  been  wronged. 
Presently  she  recovered  a  little.  Then  she  sat  up  and  began 
to  talk. 

"  I  am  the  most  miserable  woman  in  the  world — and  I 
deserve  my  misery.  Jack,  when  you  go  back  to  your  ship, 
fall  on  your  knees  and  thank  God  that  you  are  poor  and 
that  Molly  has  been  robbed  of  her  fortune  and  is  also  poor. 
Oh  !  to  be  born  rich — believe  me — it  is  a  thing  most  ter- 
rible. It  makes  men  become  like  Lord  Fylingdale,  who 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  follow  pleasure — such  pleasure  ! 
Ah  !  merciful  heaven !  such  pleasure  !  And  it  makes  women, 
Jack,  like  me.  We,  too,  follow  pleasure  like  the  men — 
we  become  gamblers — there  is  no  pleasure  for  me  like  the 
pleasure  of  gambling  ;  we  fall  in  love  for  the  pleasure  and 
whim  of  it — till  we  are  slaves  to  men  who  treat  us  worse 
than  they  treat  their  dogs — worse  than  they  treat  their 
lackeys.  Then  we  forget  honour  and  honesty ;  then  we 
throw  away  reputation  and  good  name  ;  we  accept  recklessly 
shame  and  dishonour.  My  name  has  become  a  byword — 
but  what  of  that  ?  I  have  been  a  man's  slave — I  have  done 
his  bidding." 

"  But  how,  madam  " — still  I  understood  very  little  of 
this  talk,  yet  became  suspicious  when  she  spoke  thus  of  the 
jewels — "  how  came  Molly's  jewels  to  be  your  own  ?  " 

"  I  tell  you,  Jack.  By  promise  and  compact.  I  must 
go  back  to  another  discourse  with  you.  It  was  on  a  certain 
evening  a  year  ago.  You  had  made  the  fine  discovery  that 
Lord  Fylingdale  was  a  gamester  and  the  rest  of  it.  You 
told  me.  You  also  told  me  that  Molly  would  not  keep  her 
promise,  and  would  certainly  not  be  at  the  church  in  the 
morning.  Do  you  remember  ?  " 

"  I  remember  that  we  talked  about  things." 

"  We  did.  Go  back  a  month  or  two  earlier.  By  a  most 
monstrous  deception  I  was  brought  here.  I  was  told  first 
that  it  was  in  order  to  further  some  political  object,  which 


368  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

I  did  not  believe ;  next,  to  help  him  in  getting  the  com- 
mand of  this  money — some  women,  I  said,  easily  lose  their 
sense  of  honour  and  of  truth  when  they  want  to  please 
their  lovers.  As  for  marriage,  he  declared  for  the  hundredth 
time  that  there  was  but  one  woman  in  all  the  world  whom 
he  would  marry — myself.  Now  do  you  understand  ?  He 
had  deceived  me.  Very  well,  then  I  would  deceive  him. 
At  first  my  purpose  was  to  await  in  the  church  the  coming 
of  the  bride  and  expose  the  character  of  the  man.  Since 
she  was  not  coming  I  would  take  her  place." 

"  What  ?     It  was  you,  then — you — you  ?  " 

"Yes,  Jack.  I  was  the  woman  you  saw  at  the  rails.  I 
had  a  pink  silk  cloak  like  that  of  Molly ;  I  am  about  the 
same  height  as  Molly.  I  wore  a  domino  as  had  been  ar- 
ranged. You  took  me  for  Molly." 

"  But — if  you  were  the  bride " 

"  I  was  the  bride.  I  am  the  Countess  of  Fylingdale — 
for  my  sins  and  sorrows — his  wretched  wife." 

"  But  you  would  be  revenged,  and  yet  you  suffered  this 
monstrous  fraud." 

"  I  was  revenged.  Yet — why  did  I  say  nothing  r  Did 
I  not  say  that  you  could  never  forgive  me.  Well,  I  have 
no  excuse,  only  I  said  that  women,  like  me,  with  nothing 
to  do,  sometimes  go  mad  after  a  man  and  for  his  sake  cast 
away  honour  and  care  nothing  for  shame  and  ill-repute.  I 
say,  Jack,"  she  repeated,  earnestly,  "  that  I  make  no  ex- 
cuse— I  tell  you  nothing  but  the  plain  truth.  Lord  !  how 
ugly  it  is  !  " 

I  said  nothing,  I  only  stood  still  waiting  for  more. 

"  When  I  took  off  my  domino  in  the  vestry,  my  lord, 
with  the  man  Purdon,  only  being  present,  he  was  like  a 
madman.  That  I  expected.  After  raging  for  a  while  and 
crying  out  that  he  was  now  ruined  indeed,  and  after  cursing 
Mr.  Purdon  for  not  destroying  the  registers,  he  listened  to 
Mr.  Purdon's  advice  that  we  should  consider  a  way  out  of 
it.  Accordingly,  in  my  lodgings,  the  man  Purdon,  who  is 
the  greatest  inventor  and  encourager  of  every  evil  thing 
that  lives,  set  forth  the  ease  with  which  this  marriage  could 
be  claimed,  unless  there  was  any  obstacle  such  as  sudden 
illness  which  might  be  proved  to  have  made  Molly's  pres- 
ence impossible.  In  other  words,  we  were  to  assure  the 


FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE       369 

unfortunate  Molly  that  she  was  already  married,  and  we 
were  to  act  as  if  that  was  the  fact.  We  ascertained  with- 
out trouble  that  she  had  not  left  the  house  that  morning. 
How  ?  We  sent  the  music  to  congratulate  the  bride,  and 
the  captain  sallied  forth  in  his  wrath  and  drove  them  off." 

"  And  to  this  you  consented,  out  of  your  passion  for  the 
man  ?  " 

"  Partly.  There  is  always  more  than  one  reason  for 
a  woman's  action.  In  this  case  there  was  a  bribe.  I  con- 
fess that  I  have  always  ardently  desired  jewels.  I  cannot 
have  too  many  jewels.  He  promised,  Jack,  that  I  should 
have  them  all.  Perhaps — I  do  not  know — the  promise  of 
the  jewels  decided  me.  Oh  !  Jack,  they  were  wonderful ! 
No  such  bribe  was  ever  offered  to  a  woman  before." 

I  gazed  upon  her  with  amazement.  Truly,  an  explana- 
tion complete  !  Yet,  what  a  confession  for  a  proud  woman 
to  make  !  Love  that  made  her  trample  on  honour  and 
truth  and  virtue,  and  a  bribe  to  quicken  her  footsteps ! 

"  And  now,"  I  said,  "  you  are  willing  to  make  this  story 
public." 

"  I  have  thought  about  the  business  a  good  deal.  It  has 
caused  me  more  annoyance  than  you  would  believe." 
("  Annoyance  !  "  She  spoke  of  "  annoyance  !  ")  "  Besides, 
I  have  been  cruelly  abused.  I  have  been  the  cause  of  that 
poor  girl  losing  a  great  part — perhaps  the  whole — of  her 
fortune.  I  have  been  robbed  of  the  jewels.  He  swore  to 
me,  a  dozen  times,  that  he  has  never  had  them.  I  may  by 
tardy  confession  save  something  from  the  wreck  for  that 
poor  girl.  He  has  wronged  me  in  every  way — in  ways  that 
no  woman  will,  or  can,  forgive.  I  revenge  my  wrongs  by 
making  him  a  beggar  a  few  weeks,  or  months,  before  he  can 
come  to  the  end  of  his  money." 

So  in  this  distracted  way  she  talked  till  one  could  not  tell 
whether  she  was  most  moved  by  the  thought  of  revenge,  or 
by  pity  for  Molly,  or  by  a  wholesome  repentance  of  her 
sin. 

"  Jack,"  she  said,  "  your  honest  face  is  pulled  out  as  long 
as  my  arm.  I  could  laugh  if  I  were  not  so  miserable. 
Tell  me  what  I  should  do  next.  Mmd,  I  will  do  exactly 
what  you  bid  me  do.  I  have  lived  so  long  among  kites,  hawks, 
crows,  and  birds  of  prey,  with  foul  creatures  and  crawling 


37o  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

reptiles,  that  merely  to  talk  to  an  honest  man  softens  and 
subdues  me.  Take  me  in  the  humour,  Jack.  To-morrow, 
or  next  day,  should  the  idea  of  the  man  possess  my  soul 
again ;  if  he  should  stand  over  me  and  take  my  hand,  I 
know  not — I  know  not  what  would  happen.  Perhaps,  even 
for  Molly's  sake,  I  could  not  resist  him.  I  am  but  a  poor, 
weak,  miserable  woman.  And  he  has  led  me  hither,  and 
sent  me  thither,  and  made  me  his  slave  so  long,  that  he  has 
become  part  of  my  life.  Quick,  then,  Jack !  Tell  me 
what  to  do." 

"  Come  with  me,"  I  said. 

So  she  wrapped  herself  in  a  long  cloak — not  of  pink  silk 
— and  she  put  on  a  domino  and  I  led  her  to  Mr.  Redman's 
office.  And  here  I  begged  her  to  let  me  set  down  in  writ- 
ing what  she  had  told  me  but  in  fewer  words,  while  Mr. 
Redman  stood  over  me  and  read  what  I  wrote  and  as  I 
wrote  it. 

"  The  story,  your  ladyship,"  he  said, "  is  the  most  remark- 
able that  I  have  ever  heard.  You  will  now,  in  the  presence 
of  witnesses — my  clerk  and  one  whom  he  will  bring  from 
the  customhouse  will  serve.  So — they  will  sign  without 
knowing  what  the  paper  contains." 

So  she  signed  in  the  same  bold  running  hand  that  we  had 
seen  in  the  registers. 

"What  next?"  she  asked. 

"Why,  madam,  we  have  to  consider  the  next  step.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  confession  removes  the  whole  of  the  diffi- 
culty, and  explains  what  has  hitherto  seemed  inexplicable. 
How,  it  was  asked,  could  the  place  of  the  bride  be  filled  at 
the  last  moment,  and  without  previous  knowledge  that  it 
would  have  to  be  filled  ?  And  who  was  the  woman  thus 
duly  married  and  actually,  though  under  a  false  name,  made 
Countess  of  Fylingdale,  who  did  not  step  forward  and  claim 
her  rights  ?  Now,  madam,  the  question  is  answered.  You 
knew,  but  my  lord  did  not  know,  that  the  bride  could  not 
come  to  the  church.  You  were  there,  therefore,  to  take 
her  place.  You  joined  in  this  conspiracy,  and  kept  silence 
for  the  reasons  contained  in  this  document." 

"  Quite  so.  And  now,  sir.  What  next  ?  Will  you 
bring  my  lord  to  justice  ?  Shall  I  have  to  give  evidence 
against  him  ? " 


FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE       371 

"  Madam,  I  know  not.  You  have  done  your  best,  not 
so  much  to  repair  a  great  wrong  as  to  stop  further  wrong. 
If  I  understand  matters  aright  it  will  be  impossible  to  re- 
cover anything  that  has  been  taken." 

"  You  might  as  well  hope  to  recover  a  sack  of  coals  that 
have  been  burned." 

"  Therefore,  what  we  have  to  do  first,  is  to  stop  further 
pillage.  Next,  I  apprehend,  we  must  make  it  clear  that 
your  signature  in  the  register  was  false." 

Lady  Anastasia  rose  and  put  on  her  domino  again. 

"  I  am  going  back  to  London,  sir.  Mr.  Pentecrosse 
knows  my  house  where  I  am  to  be  heard  of  for  the  present. 
It  was  a  bad  day's  work  when  I  was  married  in  that  pink 
silk  cloak.  It  may  prove  a  worse  day's  work  when  I  con- 
fessed." 

"  Nay,  madam,"  I  said  quietly,  "  can  it  be  a  bad  day's 
work  to  stop  a  cruel  and  unfeeling  robbery  ?  " 

"  I  have  done  my  part,  gentlemen,  for  good  or  for  ill.  In 
a  few  weeks  or  months  the  man  would  have  beggared  him- 
self as  well  as  that  poor  girl.  Now  he  is  beggared  already. 
I  know  not  what  he  will  do,  nor  whither  he  will  turn." 

So  I  led  her  back  to  the  Crown  and  that  same  day  she 
took  her  departure  and  I  have  never  seen  her  since.  One 
letter,  it  is  true,  I  had  from  her  of  which  I  will  tell  you  in 
due  course. 

Then  I  returned  to  Mr.  Redman. 

"  Jack,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going  without  further  discussion 
to  warn  the  manager  not  to  send  any  more  money  to  these 
attorneys  and  to  disregard  their  orders.  I  shall  write  at 
once  warning  them  that  we  have  now  in  our  hands  clear 
proof  that  my  client  is  not  married  to  Lord  Fylingdale,  and 
that  we  are  considering  in  what  manner  we  should  proceed 
w  th  regard  to  the  large  sums  that  have  been  remitted  to  his 
orders.  This,  Jack,  is  the  way  of  lawyers.  We  write 
such  a  letter  knowing  that  we  shall  not  proceed  further  in 
this  direction,  for  the  scandal  would  be  very  great  and  the 
profit  would  be  very  small.  Besides,  there  is  the  awkward 
fact  that  we  made  no  protest,  but  submitted.  Yet  sure  and 
certain  I  am  that  the  other  side  will  not  dare  to  go  into 
court,  being  conscious  of  guilt,  yet  not  knowing  how  much 
we  have  learned." 


372  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN 

"  It  seems  a  tame  ending  that  villainy  should  get  off  un- 
punished." 

"  Not  unpunished,  Jack.  You  young  men  look  to  see 
the  lightning  strike  the  wicked  man.  That  is  not  the  way, 
believe  me.  He  never  goes  unpunished,  though  he  may  be 
forgiven.  I  look  not  for  the  flash  of  lightning  to  strike 
this  man  dead,  but  I  look  for  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord — 
perhaps  to-day,  perhaps  to-morrow." 

He  read  over  again  the  paper  signed  by  Lady  Anastasia. 
"  It  is  a  strange  confession,"  he  said.  "  There  is  the  wrath 
of  a  jealous  woman  in  it.  He  might  have  beaten  her  and 
cuffed  her ;  he  might  have  robbed  her ;  and  she  would  have 
forgiven  him.  But  he  has  followed  after  strange  goddesses. 
She  spoke  about  the  jewels.  I  suppose  that  he  has  long 
since  given  them  to  these  strange  goddesses.  Hence  her 
repentance.  Hence  her  revenge.  Jack,  I  think  we  ought 
to  have  the  other  confederate's  confession — that  of  the  man 
Purdon.  He  wanted  ;£i  2,000  for  it  at  first.  He  then 
came  down  to  ^"6,000 ;  he  now  offers  it  for  relief  of  his 
present  necessities.  I  will  send  my  attorney  to  see  him. 
The  vicar  refuses  to  have  any  dealings  with  scoundrels. 
In  this  case,  however,  it  might  be  politic  to  traffic  with  him. 
We  will  offer  him  ;£iOO  for  a  full  confession.  I  will  in- 
struct my  attorney  what  particulars  to  expect." 

My  story  is  nearly  finished.  Molly  recovered  her  free- 
dom with  the  loss  of  by  far  the  greater  part  of  her  fortune. 
She  had,  indeed,  nothing  left  except  her  fleet  and  the  trade 
carried  on  by  the  firm  in  which  she  was  sole  partner.  Still 
she  remained  the  richest  woman  in  the  town. 

There  was  no  difficulty  in  procuring  from  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Purdon  a  full  statement  of  the  conspiracy.  It  was,  of 
course,  to  be  expected  that  he  should  represent  Lord  Fy- 
lingdale  as  the  contriver  and  the  proposer  of  the  abomi- 
nable design.  However,  he  gave  under  safeguards  of  wit- 
ness and  signature  a  plain  recital  of  what  had  happened,  in 
which  he  was  borne  out  by  the  other  confession  in  our 
hands. 

And  here  follows  the  letter  from  the  Lady  Anastasia. 
_  "  My  dear  Jack,"  she  said,  "  news  reaches  Lynn  slowly 
if  it  gets  there  at  all.     Therefore  I  hasten  to  inform  you 
that  an  end  has  come — perhaps  the  end  that  you  would  de- 


FIFTH  AND  LAST  CONFEDERATE       373 

sire.  My  lord  is  no  more.  I  am  a  widow.  Yet  I  mourn 
not.  My  husband  in  name  during  the  last  twelve  months 
has  acted  as  one  no  longer  in  command  of  himself.  I  can- 
not think,  indeed,  that  he  has  been  in  his  right  mind  since 
he  entered  upon  that  great  crime  of  which  you  know.  He 
would  have  gone  from  bad  to  worse,  and  I  should  have  suf- 
fered more  and  still  more.  He  killed  himself.  He  placed 
the  muzzle  of  a  pistol  within  his  mouth  and  so  killed  him- 
self. 

"  It  was  yesterday.  I  went  to  see  him.  I  had  to  tell 
him  what  I  had  done.  I  expected  he  would  kill  me.  Per- 
haps it  would  have  been  better  had  he  done  so. 

"  I  found  him  with  his  attorney,  a  man  named  Bisse, 
whom  I  have  seen  with  him  frequently. 

" 4  Pray,  madam,  take  a  chair.  I  am  your  humble  serv- 
ant. You  can  go,  Mr.  Bisse,'  said  my  lord.  4You  have 
my  instructions.  Order  the  manager  to  proceed  with  the 
sale  of  the  ships.' 

"  l  With  submission,  my  lord.  We  can  send  him  orders, 
but  we  can  only  make  him  obey  by  proceeding  according 
to  law.  He  finds  excuses.  He  makes  delays.  He  talks 
of  sacrificing  the  ships  to  a  forced  sale.' 

" c  You  will  not  proceed  according  to  law,  my  lord,'  I 
told  him. 

" c  Why,  madam  ? ' 

" 4  Because  I  have  been  to  Lynn  myself,  and  have  ex- 
plained certain  points  in  connection  with  the  marriage  serv- 
ice in  St.  Nicholas  church.' 

"  My  lord  looked  at  me  in  his  cold  way,  as  if  neither 
surprised  nor  moved. 

" '  Mr.  Bisse,'  he  said,  '  I  will  communicate  again  with 
you.'  So  the  attorney  left  us.  Then  he  turned  again  to 
me. 

" '  My  lord,'  1  repeated,  1 1  have  made  a  statement  of  all 
the  facts.' 

" 1 1  thank  you,  madam.  I  thank  you  with  all  my  heart. 
Let  me  not  detain  you.' 

"  He  said  no  more,  and  I  rose.  But  the  door  was 
thrown  open,  and  Mr.  Purdon  walked  in  without  being 
announced. 

" '  Ha  ! '  he  said,  seeing  me,  c  we  are  all  three,  then,  to- 


374  THE  LADY  OF  LYNN' 

gether  again.  My  lord,  I  will  not  waste  your  time.  I 
have  come  to  explain  that  since  you  have  refused  to  per- 
form your  compact,  you  cannot  complain  if  I  have  broken 
up  the  whole  business.' 

" c  I  thought  I  had  ordered  you  out  of  my  presence,  sir.' 

"4So  you  did.  So  you  did.  I  have  only  come  to  say 
that  I  have  this  day  drawn  up  a  full  confession  of  the  con- 
spiracy into  which  I  was  drawn  by  your  lordship,  deceived 
against  my  better  judgment  by  the  promise  of  a  large  sum 
of  money.' 

"  Lord  Fylingdale  pointed  to  the  door.  c  You  can  go, 
sir,'  he  said.  So  the  man  Purdon  obeyed  and  went  away. 

"  Then  he  turned  to  me.  c  Anastasia,  we  were  friends 
once.  I  treated  you  shamefully  in  the  matter  of  the  jewels. 
Things  have  gone  badly  with  me  of  late.  I  seem  to  have 
no  luck.  Perhaps  I  have,  somehow,  lost  my  judgment. 
That  money  has  done  me  no  good.  Curse  that  scoundrel, 
Sam  Semple  !  It  is  all  over  now.  The  game  has  been 
played.  I  have  lost,  I  suppose.  But  every  game  comes  to 
an  end  at  last.'  He  talked  unlike  himself.  c  You  can  go, 
Anastasia.  You  had  better  leave  me.  You  have  had  your 
revenge.  Let  that  consideration  console  you.' 

"I  said  no  more,  but  left  him.  It  was  in  the  afternoon. 
An  hour  later  his  people  heard  an  explosion — they  ran  to 
find  the  cause.  Lord  Fylingdale  was  lying  dead  on  the 
floor. 

u  So,  Jack,  we  are  all  punished,  and  none  of  us  can 
complain.  For  my  own  part  I  am  going  into  the  country 
where  I  have  a  small  dower  house.  The  solitude  and  the 
dullness  will,  I  dare  say,  kill  me,  but  I  do  not  care  about 
living  any  longer. — ANASTASIA." 

She  did,  however,  pass  into  a  better  mind.  For  I  heard 
some  time  after  that  she  had  married  the  dean  of  the  neigh- 
bouring cathedral,  not  under  the  name  of  Lady  Fylingdale, 
which  she  never  assumed,  but  that  of  her  first  husband. 

As  to  the  other  confederates,  the  poet,  the  colonel,  and 
the  parson,  I  never  heard  anything  more  about  them.  Nor 
do  I  expect  now  that  I  ever  shall. 

The  rest  of  Molly's  history,  dear  reader,  belongs  to  me 
and  not  to  the  world. 

THE    END 


A     000  071  249 


